A physician involved in a lengthy surgery was properly suspended from the hospital staff, the Court of Appeal has ruled, dismissing the physician’s challenge to the hospital’s peer review process.

In California, a hospital’s administrative action affecting a physician’s staff privileges gets great deference from the courts. But what if the hospital’s action is alleged to be taken in retaliation for a physician’s complaints about hospital employees?

Does a hospital committee that includes outsiders qualify for protection against litigation inquiries that is typically afforded to hospital “staff committees?”

The California Court of Appeal has upheld a hospital board’s decision to deny staff privileges to a physician with a history of sexual harassment even though the facility’s judicial review committee had found in favor of the physician joining the staff.