Nielson v. SwedishAmerican Hospital

Plaintiff sued Defendant alleging negligence for an injury she incurred during surgery. Plaintiff sought to compel Defendant to produce three quality control reports (QCRs) pertaining to the surgery. Defendant refused, arguing that the docs were protected under the Medical Studies Act. Court granted Plaintiff’s motion to compel, and held Defendant in civil contempt when it refused to comply. Defendant appealed, arguing that Court erred in ordering it to produce the QCRs. Court properly found that the privilege did not apply. The privilege applies to all reports of hospital committees that are used in the course of internal quality control. Because Defendant’s QCRs have the dual purpose of quality assurance and risk management they are not privileged. Nevertheless, Court’s order of contempt was reversed, because Defendant sought and obtained a “friendly” contempt order, which is a proper procedure to seek immediate appeal of a trial court’s discovery order.