Vezina v. U.S.
PEER REVIEW PRIVILEGE
Vezina v. U.S., Civil Action No. 07-0904 (Mar. 27, 2008 W.D.La.)
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana denied a hospital’s motion to quash an injured patient’s request for peer review documents and patient information in a claim brought under the Federal Torts Claims Act. The court found that the peer review documents were not privileged under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act. The court also found that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, while applicable, did not prohibit disclosure of the patient information.
Thus, since the suit was filed under the Federal Torts Claims Act, the court looked to the federal common law to determine if the documents in question were privileged. Finding no such privilege, the court permitted discovery. However, due to the "extremely confidential" nature of the documents, the hospital was ordered to redact patient-identifying information.