Miller v. Huron Reg’l Med. Ctr. Inc. — Nov. 2015 (Summary)

Miller v. Huron Reg’l Med. Ctr. Inc.
No. 4:12-CV-04138-KES (D.S.D. Nov. 5, 2015)

A physician who was subject to a report in the National Practitioner Data Bank filed claims against a hospital alleging breach of express contract, breach of implied contract, negligence, and defamation. The claims arose from a dispute between the hospital and a general surgeon who voluntarily reduced her surgical privileges after a request from the MEC to do so. While the surgeon was told that her voluntary reduction in privileges was not a reportable event, the hospital ended up reporting her reduction in privileges to the National Practitioner Data Bank after determining that she was under investigation.

The court denied the hospital’s motion pertaining to the breach of express contract, finding that the surgeon did not receive a hearing as required by the Medical Staff bylaws. While the hospital sought immunity under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act for the surgeon’s negligence claim, the court denied immunity, finding that a reasonable jury could hold that the surgeon was not under an official investigation – and thus not subject to reporting – at the time she agreed to reduce her privileges. Further, because the hospital and medical staff leaders knew the surgeon was not under investigation at that time, the court found that a reasonable jury could find that the hospital was aware of the false information contained in the adverse action report. Finally, the court did not dismiss the surgeon’s claim for defamation against the hospital because a reasonable jury could find that the hospital knew that false information was in the adverse action report filed with the National Practitioner Data Bank.