Patient Safety Work Product - Case Law Discussion

This Webinar will focus on a recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit disagreeing with the district court's interpretation of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 which creates a statutory privilege for work product prepared for or reported to patient safety organizations. The appellate court found that the district court had applied an incorrect "sole purpose" standard to assess whether quality files and referral logs fell under the privilege. The court held that the Act does not require that privileged information be kept solely for provision to a Patient Safety Organization. The court granted the petition for a writ of mandamus, directing the district court to vacate its orders compelling the disclosure of the privileged documents and reconsider assertion of privilege consistent with the appellate court's opinion.

Several questions will be discussed during this update including the impact of this decision on:

Information that is no longer considered PSWP (ie. did not submit to PSO);

• Any information that has not yet been reported to the PSO;

• Information, even if reported to the PSO, that is not being utilized for investigative purposes. 

Presented by:

Adrew Bolin

Andrew S.  Bolin is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer and Partner at the Bolin Law Group who is licensed in Florida and Texas. Since graduating from Stetson Law School cum laude in 2002, Mr. Bolin has dedicated his practice to representing defendants in civil lawsuits. In addition to handling civil trials, he has appeared on behalf of clients in all State Appellate Courts, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He is frequently called upon to draft model bill language and offer testimony on professional malpractice and tort reform issues in front of our State Legislature. Mr. Bolin has served as amicus curiae counsel in several of the highest profile matters effecting Florida’s doctors and hospitals. He has advocated for his clients in battles over: the scope of Florida’s “Amendment 7”; caps on pain and suffering damages; the right to utilize arbitration agreements; limiting Plaintiff experts’ ability to criticize physicians outside of their specialty and; for physicians’ right to counsel in civil matters.