Larson v. Wasemiller

MALPRACTICE – CORPORATE NEGLIGENCE

Larson v. Wasemiller,
No. A05-1701 (Minn. Ct. App. July 25, 2006)

The Court of Appeals of Minnesota,
in answering two certified questions from the state trial court, held that
Minnesota common law does not recognize a cause of action for negligent credentialing
or privileging of a physician against a hospital. The certified questions arose
from a malpractice suit against a surgeon, in which a patient alleged injury
resulting from a gastric bypass procedure. The patient also sought to extend
liability to the hospital for negligent credentialing of the surgeon, arguing
that the granting of privileges to the physician was unreasonable due to a
history of malpractice and educational deficiencies. Initially, the trial court
decided to recognize a cause of action for negligent credentialing despite
the lack of appellate precedent on the issue, but then opted for interlocutory
review of the issue due to its "important and doubtful" nature.
The appellate court acknowledged its authority to recognize a new cause of
action, but chose not to exercise its discretion in this case. The court identified
several unanswered issues surrounding a cause of action for negligent credentialing,
including whether the cause of action is dependent on a prior determination
of liability of the physician or whether suits for negligent credentialing
and malpractice should be tried together. The court also pointed out the difficulties
hospitals would face in defending claims of negligent credentialing, because
state law limits disclosure or discovery of peer review information. For these
reasons, the court of appeals ruled that the state supreme court or legislature
is better suited to weigh these policy concerns and establish a cause of action
for negligent credentialing.