Peer Review Immunity Gets A Boost, Jennifer Crisera Explains in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel

Seattle, WA. (September 1, 2009) – Seattle attorney Jennifer Crisera is the author of an article published in the September 2009 edition of The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, “Poliner v. Texas Health Systems: Confirming Peer Review Immunity.”  The article addresses the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in the Poliner case, in which Texas physician Lawrence Poliner filed suit against his employer, a Texas hospital, following his suspension of medical privileges by the hospital’s peer review committee due to alleged “substandard care” of patients. The Fifth Circuit reversed an earlier district court judgment that had awarded Dr. Poliner $366 million in defamation damages, Crisera notes, by reaffirming the peer review immunity provided for by the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (“HCQIA”) of 1986. Crisera explains that the decision, “should provide some comfort to participants in hospitals’ professional peer review processes,” noting that the U.S. Supreme Court has since declined to hear the case.