Medical Staff Privilege Application May Lead to Attorney Fee Obligation
I am back from a pleasant hiatus. My children, both living out of town, blessed us with two new grandchildren this summer--a grand-daughter and a grandson--and the last few months have been occupied with enjoyable travel.
The U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia was more active than I was, however, when it recently held that a physician who unsuccessfully sued the hospital where he worked, and some other physicians on staff, must pay the defendants' attorneys fees and costs because he had signed an "Applicant's Consent and Release" when he was applying for medical staff privileges at the defendant hospital. The amount to be paid is yet to be determined but could be substantial because there were 3 defendants seeking fees, including two physicians and their group professional corporation.
In the case of Adeduntan v. Hospital Auth. of Clark City, No.3:04-CV-065 (CDL)(M.D. Ga. July 31, 2008), arising out of the medical peer review of plaintiff's performance during an emergency abdominal aortic aneuryism procedure, the Court found that "...[Dr. Adeduntan] was required to execute the form in order to apply for mediacal staff appointment and privileges at Athens Regional and that [his] signature appears on multiple copies."
The language of the document provided:
"If...I [Dr. Azeez Adeduntan] institute legal action against the Hospital [Athens Regional] and/or its Medical Staff members and do not prevail, I agree to reimburse the Hospital and any Medical Staff members named in the action for any and all costs incurred in defending the legal action, including reasonable attorneys fees."
Recognizing that credentialing litigation is on the rise because of numerous decisions allowing such disputes to move into the courts, and most American courts cannot impose attorney fee obligations on losing litigants, in the absence of a contractual requirement, I would expect that most staff privilege applications would be promptly amended to include such language.
Depending on the applicant's specialty, and state law, the language may or may not be negotiable. A good healthcare attorney, however, is essential to review the application, research the issue and attempt to obtain any modifications. As always, even the most innocuously appearing document--a simple "application" may contain time-bombs that lay dormant for many years.
