Christy v. Salem

Peer
Review Privilege

Christy v. Salem, No. A-6448-02T3 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div.
Feb. 17, 2004)

A patient who suffered spinal injuries following the removal
of his extubation tube sued his doctor and the hospital for malpractice. During
the discovery phase of the lawsuit, the patient sought the hospital’s peer review
committee report, arguing that the hospital had no interest in keeping it confidential
since the identities of the committee members had already been revealed. In
the alternative, the patient argued that he had a compelling need for the report
since the x-rays of the injury site were "missing."

The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, upheld
the peer review privilege and refused to let the patient discover the entire
report. The court did, however, hold that the peer review privilege is not absolute.
Therefore, the court found that the patient could discover any portion of the
report that described facts, rather than the committee’s evaluations or deliberation.
In addition, after weighing the interests of the parties and finding that the
patient had a compelling need, the court allowed the patient to discover information
from the report that could lead to the discovery of the missing x-ray.