$2.1M verdict handed down in peer review hearing case
Doctor contests hospital suspending privileges
A $2.1 million jury verdict against Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center for unfair privilege suspension of a doctor in a hospital peer review hearing is believed to be one of the largest jury awards in a peer review hearing case.
The case involves anesthesiologist Georgia Bode, MD, who was suspended for the alleged improper return of a single ampule of Demerol, a charge that she denied. In fact, the judge instructed the jury that the hospital's actions were unjustified. Partners Henry R. Fenton, JD, and Abbie Maliniak, JD, of the law firm Fenton Nelson in Los Angeles, represented Bode in the matter.
The attorneys secured a $2.1 million jury verdict for Bode. For the 10 years it took to exhaust her administrative procedures, Bode steadfastly denied the charge, Fenton says. Prior to the commencement of the case, at the request of plaintiff's counsel, Judge Elizabeth Allen White, JD, instructed the jury that it already had been established that the hospital's actions against Bode based on the alleged improper return of the Demerol were unjustified.
Bode had an unblemished record since she began practicing in 1987. She gave up her staff membership at Centinela Hospital to come to L.A. Metro after the hospital replaced its entire anesthesiology department. The replacement followed incidents involving the mishandling of controlled narcotic substances, which caused an accreditation agency to award the hospital only a conditional accreditation.
After an incident in which an ampule of Demerol was unaccounted for, the hospital's surgery department held an emergency peer review meeting, where the hospital's chief of staff summarily suspended Bode's temporary privileges. In accordance with L.A. Metro bylaws and California statutory requirements, Bode followed protocol to exhaust her hearing rights, as documentation and an eyewitness account verified that she did, in fact, return the ampule of Demerol, Fenton explains. This matter ultimately made its way to the California Court of Appeal and resulted in a published decision, Bode v. Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center.
After a five-day trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court, a unanimous jury decided that based on the behavior of L.A. Metro, Bode did indeed suffer past and future economic damages and past emotional damages. Fenton adds that while the size of the jury's verdict deserves a great deal of attention, what was truly at stake was the previously untarnished reputation of a doctor, who due to being associated with narcotics, has been unable to obtain medical staff membership and privileges at numerous hospitals.
"This is a victory for all physicians whose hospital privileges are unfairly limited, denied, or terminated," Fenton says. "Physicians who encounter the unfair termination or denial of hospital privileges must succeed in winning their case at the administrative hearing level before they can even get to the courts."
Source
Henry R. Fenton, JD, Co-Founder, Fenton Nelson, Los Angeles. Telephone: (310) 444-5244. E-mail: [email protected].
A $2.1 million jury verdict against Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center for unfair privilege suspension of a doctor in a hospital peer review hearing is believed to be one of the largest jury awards in a peer review hearing case.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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