Rhode Island General Laws 23-17-25. Privileges and immunities for peer review activities
(a) Neither the proceedings nor the records of peer review boards as defined in § 5-37-1 shall be subject to discovery or be admissible in evidence in any case save litigation arising out of the imposition of sanctions upon a physician. However, any imposition or notice of a restriction of privileges or a requirement of supervision imposed on a physician for unprofessional conduct as defined in § 5-37-5.1 shall be subject to discovery and be admissible in any proceeding against the physician for performing, or against any health care facility or health care provider which allows the physician to perform the medical procedures which are the subject of the restriction or supervision during the period of the restriction or supervision or subsequent to that period. Nothing contained in this section shall apply to records made in the regular course of business by a hospital or other provider of health care information. Documents or records otherwise available from original sources are not to be construed as immune from discovery or used in any civil proceedings merely because they were presented during the proceedings of the committee.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 23-17-25
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Health care facility: means a hospital or a nursing facility. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-17-59
- Hospital: means a person or governmental entity licensed in accordance with this chapter to establish, maintain, and operate a hospital. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-17-2
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Person: means any individual, trust or estate, partnership, corporation (including associations, joint stock companies, and insurance companies), state, or political subdivision or instrumentality of a state. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-17-2
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) There shall be no monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action for damages shall arise against, any member of a duly appointed peer review board operated pursuant to written by-laws, for any act or proceeding undertaken or performed within the scope of the functions of any peer review board.
(c) There shall be no monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action for damage shall arise against, any person on account of the communication of information in the possession of the person to any peer review board or the board of medical licensure and discipline, when the communication is intended to aid in the evaluation of the qualifications, fitness, or character of a practitioner of the healing arts, and does not represent as true any matter not reasonably believed to be true.
(d) Any peer review processes authorized by statute and carried out in good faith shall have the benefit of the state action exemption to the state antitrust law.
History of Section.
P.L. 1976, ch. 244, § 5; G.L. 1956, § 23-16-23; P.L. 1979, ch. 39, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 23-17-25; P.L. 1986, ch. 350, § 12.