Quick Summary: The records and proceedings of medical review committees are not subject to civil court discovery, and may not be used as evidence in a civil court lawsuit for professional negligence against a provider of professional healthcare services .

   When information concerning an adverse event is available from the patient’s original chart or other hospital records, or through independent interviews with witnesses, a court will not assume that the information was gained through improper access to the proceedings of a medical review committee, and the court will not shield the information from use in court under the laws protecting the confidentiality of medical review proceedings.  COURT OF APPEALS OF GEORGIA, 1996.

   In a case recently considered by the Court of Appeals of Georgia, there were allegations of professional negligence made against a hospital concerning a breach in sterile surgical technique during a procedure on a patient. The patient had to be readmitted with a serious post-op infection three weeks after brain surgery. It was necessary to remove his cranial bone flap. This left the patient’s head grossly disfigured.

   The patient learned through conversations with a nurse employed at the hospital and a medical student assigned there that an unusually high number of post-neurosurgery patients were having similar post-operative infections.

   In the patient’s lawsuit, the hospital’s attorneys sought to disqualify all of the existing evidence regarding the incident, on the grounds that the incident had been the subject of a professional medical review committee proceeding within the hospital and an investigation by the state department of health.

   The court noted that the record of proceedings before a medical review committee, including its findings, conclusions and recommendations, as well as similar records prepared by state health department investigators, are strictly confidential under the law and are completely immune from use in court. They may not be obtained by a medical negligence plaintiff or plaintiff’s counsel through use of civil medical records subpoenas or depositions, and may not be offered as evidence in a civil negligence trial.

   However, the mere fact that certain documents have been considered by a medical review committee, or the testimony of certain witnesses heard, does not shield the original documents from discovery or keep the witnesses from being interviewed independently, nor does it exempt the original documents and witnesses from use as evidence in trial. Hospital vs. Sweeny, 469 S.E. 2d 772 (Ga. App., 1996).