Hospital Duty – Responding to Credentialing Inquiries

Kadlec Med. Ctr. v. Lakeview Anesthesia Assocs., No. 06-30745 (5th Cir. May 8, 2008)

The United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit reversed the judgment of the lower court against Lakeview Regional Medical Center ("LRMC") and vacated and remanded the remainder of the judgment against an anesthesiology group to determine apportionment and damages.

The trial court ruled that the entities had a duty not to omit "material" negative information about the anesthesiologist's impairment when they responded to the credentialing inquiries. The Fifth Circuit disagreed and noted that there was not an affirmative duty to disclose negative information about the anesthesiologist. However, once LRMC and the anesthesiology group chose to write the letters, they assumed a duty not to make affirmative representations in the letters. In light of this, the court concluded that the statements in the letters from the anesthesiology group were false on their face and materially misleading. On the other hand, the letter from LRMC was deemed not to be materially misleading, considering it did not "comment on [his] proficiency as an anesthesiologist, and it [did] not recommend him to the [hospital]."