CA Court: Peer Review Committee's Recommendations Not Final

The California Court of Appeal recently interpreted the scope of California Business &amp; Professions Code ' 809.05, subdivision (a) in the case of <i>Weinberg v. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center</i>, 119 Cal. App. 4th 1098; 15 Cal. Rptr. 3d 6; 2004 Cal. App. LEXIS 1017 (5/28/04). <i>Weinberg</i> is the first published opinion dealing with the law, which requires that a hospital governing body give "great weight" to a peer review committee's recommendations regarding disciplinary proceedings against a physician, but authorizes the body to reject those recommendations, provided it does not do so arbitrarily or capriciously. The California Court of Appeal applied this statute to the review of physician disciplinary charges by the governing board of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after four peer review committee members identified deficiencies in a physician's performance, but nonetheless recommended against terminating his staff privileges.

16 minute read November 02, 2004 at 07:35 AM

By

David Axelrad and Robert Wright