Murfin v. St. Mary’s Good Samaritan (Summary)

HCQIA

Murfin v. St. Mary’s Good Samaritan, No. 12-CV-1077-WDS (S.D. Ill. Apr. 17, 2013)

Finding that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the case, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois remanded to state court a lawsuit brought by a physician who requested injunctive relief to prevent a hospital from revoking his clinical privileges.

The case arose after a physician allegedly yelled at and had physical contact with two nurses, resulting in a Medical Executive Committee recommendation that the physician attend anger management counseling, issue a letter of apology, and accept a 30-day suspension of clinical privileges.  Though the physician accepted the MEC’s recommendation, the board of directors nevertheless terminated the physician’s clinical privileges.

In response, the physician demanded a hearing on the recommendation of a 30-day suspension, which the hospital denied.  The physician then filed a complaint for injunctive relief in state court, seeking to enjoin the hospital from enforcing the revocation of his privileges, ordering the hospital to provide him with a hearing, and enjoining the hospital from making a report to the National Practitioner Data Bank. The physician then removed the case from state court to federal court.

The federal court questioned whether it had jurisdiction over the case, noting that the removal of a case to federal court is proper if the lawsuit could have originally been filed in that court, such as when the claim arises under federal law.  In the case at hand, the court found that there was no claim created by federal law under the HCQIA, since the HCQIA offers immunity protection and does not give rise to a private cause of action when its hearing procedures are not followed.