Hospitals under no duty to disclose negative information unless asked

✍ Scribed by John C. West

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 119 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1074-4797
• DOI: 10.1002/jhrm.5600280207

✦ Synopsis

was an employee of Lakeview Anesthesia Associates (LAA) in Louisiana and had privileges to provide anesthesia services at Lakeview Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Louisiana. An audit of Dr. Berry's use of medications was performed in 2001 and irregularities in his use of Demerol were noted. During a 24-hour shift, Dr. Berry did not respond to pages and was found in a sedated and unresponsive state. His employment with LAA was terminated that day. His privileges at LRMC were allowed to expire, apparently without any action by LRMC, so it appears that no report was made to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners or the National Practitioner Data Bank.

Dr. Berry obtained employment with Staff Care Inc., a temporary employment agency for medical professionals. He was referred to Kadlec Medical Center (Kadlec) in Richland, WA. Kadlec sent a letter with detailed requests for information to LRMC as part of the credentialing process. LRMC responded by merely giving the dates during which Dr. Berry held privileges there. Two partners in LAA, Drs. Dennis and Preau, wrote favorable letters of recommendation for Dr. Berry. Kadlec granted Dr. Berry privileges to provide anesthesia services.

There was an extremely bad outcome during a surgical procedure in which Dr. Berry was providing anesthesia. The patient, Kimberley Jones, was undergoing an elective tubal ligation when she suffered irreversible brain damage. She has remained in a non-responsive state since the surgery. Dr. Berry admitted to diverting Demerol and entered a rehabilitation program. Ms. Jones' family brought suit against Kadlec and Dr. Berry (who they alleged was under the influence of drugs during the procedure), which was ultimately settled with a payment of $7,500,000.