Lipson v. Anesthesia Services, P.A.

Lipson v. Anesthesia Services, P.A.,

No. 00C-08-105-JRS (Del. Super. Ct. Oct. 3, 2001)

A physician sued his former medical practice for improper discharge from his
contract, slander, and unfairly preventing him from competing in the community.
The medical practice argued that its actions were justified as a valid peer
review exercise. The medical practice alleged that the peer review at issue
was requested by a local hospital that received virtually all of its anesthesiology
services from the medical group.

The questions before the Superior Court of Delaware were the boundaries of
peer review immunity and whether common law privileges had developed to protect
slanderous statements made against a physician during the peer review process.
To determine if the medical practice fell under the peer review immunity, the
court looked to whether it was acting as a protected professional review body
and whether it had engaged in a professional review action. The physician bore
the burden of proving these elements. The court found that, since the medical
group applied such an inadequate process, its actions could not constitute a
protected peer review activity and the court denied its request for summary
judgment based on HCQIA and state law immunity. Additionally, while the court
recognized a qualified privilege for an employer to make communications regarding
the character, qualifications, or job performance of a former employee, the
court held that questions of fact remained regarding whether such statements
were motivated by malice, and again denied summary judgment.