Lohrmann v. Iredell Mem. Hosp.

Disruptive Physicians

Lohrmann v. Iredell Mem. Hosp., Inc., 620 S.E.2d 258
(N.C. Ct. App. 2005)

The
North Carolina Court of Appeals dismissed a physician’s lawsuit against a hospital
after finding that the hospital had substantially complied with its medical
staff bylaws in suspending the physician’s clinical privileges. The bylaws
required complaints about physicians to be submitted in writing to the Executive
Committee. The complaint about the physician in question had been presented
orally by the Chief Executive Officer, based on the written complaints of two
hospital employees. The court found that the process used by the CEO constituted "substantial
compliance" with the bylaws, and could not form the basis for a breach of
contract claim. Similarly, the fact that the hearing panel described the physician’s
behavior as "disruptive" when that term had not been used in the notice
provided to the physician did not mean that the notice was defective. The court
noted that the notice provided to the physician adequately described the issues
that formed the basis for hearing, regardless of whether they were described
as "disruptive" or some other term.