Fowler v. Pirris

34 Pa. D. & C.3d 530, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 15
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Washington County
DecidedApril 28, 1981
Docketno. 233
StatusPublished

This text of 34 Pa. D. & C.3d 530 (Fowler v. Pirris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Washington County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fowler v. Pirris, 34 Pa. D. & C.3d 530, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 15 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1981).

Opinions

BELL, J.,

Defendant, Washington Hospital, has filed a motion for a protective order pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 4012, on plaintiff’s request for a production of documents. Plaintiff has also filed a cross motion for sanctions against the defendant hospital.

An extensive account of the pending case is not needed presently, and we will relate only those facts which will give a basic understanding of the type of case that is now being prepared for trial. On or about June 27, 1973, Phyliss G. Fowler, wife of plaintiff herein, entered the Washington Hospital for childbirth. In spite of her extreme hypertensive condition, the child was delivered on June 28, 1973; however, renal complications developed with Mrs. Fowler. On July 7, 1973, a decision was made to perform a closed renal biopsy to evaluate the etiology of her condition. Bleeding developed and on [532]*532July 26, 1973, a right nephrectomy was performed. Renal functions continued to deteriorate and Mrs. Fowler was put on hemodialysis. Subsequent complications necessitated the removal of her left kidney and, unfortunately, Mrs. Fowler died at home on December 2, 1974.

Clarence C. Fowler, as administrator of her estate, filed a complaint against Washington Hospital alleging, inter alia, that it had failed to have adequate and competent surgical experts render treatment and that it failed to monitor Mrs. Fowler’s treatment. Defendant hospital denies the allegations.

In order to diligently prepare and prosecute this case, counsel for plaintiff has sought a number of documents relating to the professional expertise of Dr. Pirris by way of a motion for production. Dr. Pirris was the attending physician for Mrs. Fowler and was granted staff privileges at the Washington Hospital. The Washington Hospital has asked this court for a protective order objecting to the discovery of certain requested documents, claiming that they fall within tíre confidentiality provisions of the Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act (PPRPA)1 which provides in section 425.4:

“The proceedings and records of a review committee shall be held in confidence and shall not be subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil action against a professional health care provider arising out of the matters which are the subject of evaluation and review by such committee . . . Provided, however, that information, documents or records otherwise available from original sources are not to be construed as immune from discovery or use in any such civil action merely because they [533]*533were presented during proceedings of such committee. ”

The act defines a “Review organization” as:

[A]ny committee . . . established by one or more state or local professional societies, to gather and review information relating to the care and treatment of patients for the purposes of (i) evaluating and improving the quality of health care rendered; (ii) reducing morbidity or mortality; or (iii) establishing and enforcing guidelines designed to keep within reasonable bounds the cost of health care. It shall also mean any hospital board, committee or individual reviewing the professional qualifications or activities of its medical staff or applicants for admission thereto.”

It is noted by the court that the act permits discovery of documents considered by a review committee, if they are obtainable from original sources. As this is so, the request found in paragraph two of plaintiff’s motion (i.e. — the accreditation reports of Washington Hospital from the Joint Commission of Hospital Accreditation) shall be permitted as plaintiff can obtain the report from the Joint Commission itself. Counsel for defendant has questioned whether plaintiff would be able to obtain the documents from ' the Joint Commission. Plaintiff’s request might be denied by the Commission; however, defense counsel has offered nothing, other than his own personal doubt, to show that plaintiff is not entitled to a copy of the report. As such, we see no reason to believe that the document is unavailable from an original soure. We therefore allow its discovery from the defendant hospital.

The other requested documents, not being available through an independent source, present us with a different problem. The defendant claims that since the PPRPA prohibits discovery of the proceed[534]*534ings and records of any “hospital board, committee or individual reviewing the professional qualifications or activities of its medical staff or applicants for admission thereto,” it should not be forced to comply with plaintiff’s requests. The requested documents, in addition to the accreditation report discussed above, are:2

“3 (B) A copy of the application of defendant Pirris to the governing board of Washington Hospital for staff privileges and/or a copy of the application to perform closed kidney biopsies.
3 (C) Any documents in the possession of the medical staff and/or governing body of the defendant reflecting their investigation or Dr. Pirris’s qualifications to perform clinical practice and/or closed kidney biopsies at Washington Hospital and a copy of the disposition of said governing body and/or medical staff . . .
5 . copies of documents with regard to the admission application of defendant Pirris, any delineation and retention documents of the staff privileges of defendant Pirris, and documents to show how the medical staff applied aforesaid standards to the defendant Pirris, specifically with regard to delineations of staff privileges for closed kidney biopsy.”

Admittedly, there is little case history surrounding the PPRPA. Both defendant and plaintiff contend that the cases of Bandes v. Klimowski, 3 D.&C.3d 11 (1977), Schwartz v. Tri-County Hospital, 74 D.&C.2d 52 (1975), and Holliday v. Klimowski, 75 D.&C.2d 408 (1976), support their respective positions.

In Bandes, supra, it was held that a hospital ad[535]*535ministrator need not be required to answer a question as to whether there had been any infraction of hospital rules by a certain doctor. Plaintiff herein has not made a request such as this in his motion, and we feel that defendant’s rebanee on this case is misplaced.

In Schwartz, supra, a request was made for defendant doctors to answer interrogatories regarding their appearance before a review board. Such a request was not made of Washington Hospital in the instant case, thereby making rebanee upon Schwartz inappropriate also. The requests made in Hobiday, supra, are similar to those made by plaintiff herein, but are not so identical as to warrant a strict appbeation of that court’s order to the issue before us.

We wih discuss each request seriatim: Plaintiff has requested a copy of Dr. Pirris’s appbeation for staff privileges3; we hold that it is discoverable under our reading of the statute and as being in concert with Judge DiSabe’s order in Hobiday. Peer review is defined in the PPRPA as a review “of services ordered or performed by other professional health care providers.”4 The records of such reviews are kept confidential in order to improve the quahty of care, reduce morbidity and mortahty and to keep the cost of care within reasonable bounds. The ap-pbeation of Dr. Pirris is not a document that reviews the services of another health care provider.

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83 F.R.D. 79 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
34 Pa. D. & C.3d 530, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fowler-v-pirris-pactcomplwashin-1981.