Hammond v. Saini (Summary)

PEER REVIEW PRIVILEGE

Hammond v. Saini, No. 492PA13 (N.C. Dec. 19, 2014)

The Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed a lower court’s ruling that certain documents were not protected by the state’s peer review privilege. Plaintiff, a patient who suffered first and second degree burns on her face during surgery, sued defendant, a hospital, for negligence. During discovery, the patient requested documents relating to the accident. The hospital asserted the peer review privilege for documents entitled “Root Cause Analysis Report.” Additionally, the hospital attached an affidavit which stated that the Root Cause Analysis Team is a peer review committee established pursuant to the peer review privilege statute. The lower court held that the peer review privilege did not apply to these documents because the hospital had not shown that the documents were part of a medical review committee’s proceeding. The hospital appealed, arguing that the Root Cause Analysis Team constitutes a medical review committee.

The court affirmed the lower court’s ruling, holding that, pursuant to the peer review privilege statute, the hospital failed to provide specific evidence that explains how the committee was created or how its operations were adopted. The court stated that the affidavit was insufficient to demonstrate that the Root Cause Analysis Team met the criteria to be a medical review committee. Instead, the affidavit simply recited the language of the statute in conclusory fashion. The hospital should have explained the formal organizational process that led to the adoption of the Root Cause Analysis Policy and the creation of the Root Cause Analysis Team.