PRIVILEGE – QUALITY ASSURANCE
Strini v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp., No. 05-CV-440 (N.D.N.Y. Dec. 19, 2006)
The United States
District Court for the Northern District of New York granted a protective order
to a hospital precluding the disclosure of several pages of records generated
by its infection control and patient safety and quality improvement committees.
In this case, the patient suffered complications following valve replacement
surgery, eventually causing him to have the valve removed. The removed valve
was found to be contaminated with mycobacterium. The patient sued the manufacturer
of the valve and, during the course of the lawsuit, both the patient and the
manufacturer sought to compel the hospital to provide the records generated
by the infection control and patient safety and quality improvement committees
after their review of the valve contamination. The court held that the records
were protected under a state law pertaining to quality assurance records, noting
that the records had been prepared as part of the hospital’s
infection control and quality assurance programs.