John Ratkowitz is a Civil Trial Lawyer in New Jersey and has successfully recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients throughout New Jersey. John is published extensively in the areas of medical malpractice, patient safety and construction site safety management. Contact John at (973) 652-2384 or jratkowitz@gmail.com.
Monday, April 19, 1999
A Critical Analysis of the Self-Critical Analysis Privilege
This article was published in the New Jersey Law Journal's Complex Litigation Supplement on April 19, 1999.
When an unusual incident involving a patient occurs at a health care facility, it may be the subject of peer review by a committee created within the hospital. This kind of review is likely if the incident caused the patient to file a medical malpractice complaint. Peer review analysis and the reports from morbidity and mortality committees contain a great deal of factual information relevant to a medical malpractice case. Notwithstanding, defendants have been largely successful in shielding these materials during discovery by arguing that these documents are protected by the so-called self-critical analysis privilege. This article analyzed the development of federal case law that dealt with the self-critical analysis privilege and argues that courts should not allow hospitals to shield relevant evidence from disclosure by incorrectly applying the doctrine.
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