Trial Court Rules in Favor of Discoverability in Med Mal Case of Notes Made By Patient Safety Director

In the case of Ford-Bey v. Professional Anesthesia Services North America, LLC, No. 2017-Civil-02996 (C.P. Montg. Co. March 23, 2022 Saltz, J.), the court found, in a medical malpractice action, that the notes made by a hospital employee were not protected by the confidentiality provisions of the medical care availability and reduction of error (MCARE) Act because the notes were not made for the sole purpose for complying with the patient safety reporting requirements of the MCARE Act.

According to the Opinion, this was a medical malpractice case arising from the death of the decedent after surgery.

The Defendant hospital objected to the Plaintiff’s discovery requests for notes made by the patient safety director that were prepared during a root cause analysis of the incident.

The court granted the discovery requests and ordered that the documents be produced. The hospital filed an appeal and the court issued this Rule 1925 Opinion.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (May 3, 2022).

Source of image:  Photo by National Cancer Institute on www.unsplash.com.