Leal v. Secretary, U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Serv. (Summary)

NATIONAL PRACTITIONER DATA BANK

Leal v. Secretary, U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Serv., No. 09-15727 D.C. Docket No. 08-01062-CV-ORL-22-GJK (11th Cir., Sept. 22, 2010)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s judgment denying relief to a physician who sought to have a report removed from the National Practitioner Data Bank.

The hospital filed a report with the Data Bank following the summary suspension of the physician’s clinical privileges due to his violent, threatening, and physically destructive and damaging behavior. The physician argued that the report was factually inaccurate and that the Secretary’s review of the report was arbitrary and capricious. However, the court explained that the Secretary decides only whether the report accurately describes the adverse action that was taken against the physician and the reporting hospital’s explanation for the action; the Secretary does not decide whether incidents listed in the report actually occurred.

Dr. Leal also argued that the 60-day suspension of his privileges was not a reportable event because he was not suspended for conduct that affects or could affect adversely the health or welfare of a patient or patients. The court found that the hospital was required to report its disciplinary action to the Data Bank “even though its halls were not littered with injured patients as a result of Dr. Leal’s very bad day” and that “disruptive and abusive behavior by a physician, even if not resulting in actual or immediate harm to a patient, poses a serious threat to patient health or welfare.”

Dr. Leal’s final argument was that summary suspensions are only reportable when imposed to protect patients from imminent danger, and that his suspension was not imposed because of imminent danger to patients. The court rejected that argument finding that imminent danger is not required before a summary suspension is reportable, that a hospital is required to report a professional review action that adversely affects the clinical privileges of a physician for a period longer than 30 days, and that a summary suspension is a professional review action.