§ 12-220-209 — Professional review committees - immunity

(1) (a) A
professional review committee may be established pursuant to this section to
investigate complaints against a person licensed to practice dentistry under this
article 220. If a professional review committee is formed, the committee must
include in its membership at least three persons licensed to practice dentistry
under this article 220. The committee may be authorized to act only by:

(I) The board; or

(II) A society or an association of persons licensed to practice dentistry
under this article 220 whose membership includes not less than one-third of the
persons licensed to practice dentistry under this article 220 residing in this state, if
the licensee whose services are the subject of review is a member of the society or
association.

(b) A professional review committee of a society or an association of persons
licensed pursuant to this article 220 shall:

(I) Notify the board within sixty days after the review committee analyzes
care provided by a licensee and determines that the care may not meet generally
accepted standards or that the licensee has otherwise violated any provision of this
article 220. The licensee may be subject to disciplinary action by the board.

(II) Allow the board or its designee to conduct a periodic audit of records of
the review committee. A person designated by the board to conduct the audit must
be a licensed or retired dentist from any state. The board or its designee shall
conduct the audit no more than twice annually. If any pattern of behavior of a
licensee is identified that may constitute reasonable grounds to believe there has
been a violation of this article 220, all relevant records of the review committee are
subject to a subpoena issued by the board.

(c) (I) The proceedings and records of a review committee must be held in
confidence and are not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil
action against a dentist arising out of the matters that are the subject of evaluation
and review by the committee. However, records of closed proceedings and
investigations are available to the particular licensee under review and the
complainant involved in the proceedings.

(II) A person who was in attendance at a meeting of the committee shall not
be permitted or required to testify in any civil action as to any evidence or other
matters produced or presented during the proceedings of the committee or as to
any findings, recommendations, evaluations, opinions, or other actions of the
committee or any members of the committee. However, information, documents, or
records otherwise available from original sources are not protected from discovery
or use in a civil action merely because they were presented during proceedings of
the committee, and any documents or records that have been presented to the
review committee by any witness must be returned to the witness, if requested by
the witness or if ordered to be produced by a court in any action, with copies to be
retained by the committee at its discretion.

(III) Any person who testifies before the committee or who is a member of
the committee is not prevented from testifying as to matters within the person's
knowledge, but the person may not be asked about the person's testimony before
the committee or opinions the person formed as a result of the committee hearings.

(2) Any member of a professional review committee authorized by the board,
any member of a professional review committee's staff, any witness or consultant
appearing or testifying before the professional review committee, and any person
who lodges a complaint pursuant to this article 220 is granted the same immunity
and is subject to the same conditions for immunity as specified in section 12-20-402. The immunity provided by this subsection (2) extends to the members of an
authorized professional review committee of a society or an association of persons
licensed pursuant to this article 220 and witnesses or consultants appearing before
the committee if the committee is authorized to act as provided in subsection
(1)(a)(II) of this section.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2020: Entire article amended with relocations, (HB 20-1056), ch. 64, p. 233, � 1, effective September 14.