McCall v. Henry Med. Ctr., Inc.
No. A01A0586 (Ga. Ct. App. July 2, 2001)

A patient filed a medical malpractice claim against a medical center for damages resulting from an errant surgery. The patient claimed that the medical center was negligent in granting clinical privileges to the doctor performing the surgery. Following a motion to compel discovery from the patient, the medical center filed a motion for summary judgment, which was ultimately granted by the lower court and which rendered the motion to compel discovery moot. The lower court, ruling in favor of the medical center, held that peer review materials were not discoverable under Georgia law. Further, the medical center successfully argued that it was entitled to summary judgment even if the peer review materials were discoverable because the medical center had established JCAHO-approved procedures for evaluating physician credentials.

On appeal, the patient argued that the lower court's grant of summary judgment had been premature because the motion to compel discovery would likely have uncovered evidence that would have raised a genuine question of fact and required a denial of the motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals of Georgia ruled that the lower court erred when it did not defer its decision on summary judgment until the motion to compel had been properly considered. While the Court of Appeals of Georgia did not rule specifically on the motion to compel, the court did allow that some information from the peer review may have been discoverable and relevant to the patient's claim. As result, the appellate court reversed the lower court decision and remanded the action to the lower court to reconsider the motion to compel discovery.