Opinion ID: 2368220
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: testimony of flamm

Text: The plaintiff called as an expert witness Dr. Gerald H. Flamm, chairman of the department of psychiatry at St. Raphael's Hospital in New Haven, for the limited purpose of answering a hypothetical question based upon evidence in the case. The defendant objected to Flamm testifying on behalf of the plaintiff because he had attended a claims review panel meeting where the facts of the case had been discussed. The defendant claimed that Flamm's attendance at the panel meeting disqualified him as a witness under the provisions of § 19-6a and § 52-197a (now § 38-19a) of the General Statutes. Section 19-6a [2] protects the confidentiality of information records and miscellaneous other data obtained by staff committees of accredited health facilities in connection with the study of morbidity or mortality by such committees. Section 52-197a [3] similarly precludes the disclosure of any opinions by a medical review committee presented during proceedings by such committee. The defendant claims that these statutes preclude any doctor who had no first hand knowledge of a patient's situation but who had attended a peer review meeting from testifying in a case because inevitably that which he heard at the time of the peer review committee meeting, which was indeed privileged, could not be excluded from his mind as he testified. The defendant's construction of these statutes is much too broad. The purpose of these statutes is to keep peer review studies, discussions and deliberations confidential. A facial examination of the statutes reveals that they are not designed to disqualify a doctor from testifying. Rather, they seek to circumscribe the subject matter of his testimony by precluding him from disclosing those matters which were part of the peer review proceedings. Flamm was not asked to disclose what occurred at the claim review meeting. He was first asked whether he was familiar with the standard of care practiced by hospitals in Connecticut having a psychiatric unit and then asked the source of his knowledge. He was then presented with a lengthy statement of assumed facts and asked whether based on such facts the defendant measured up to the standard. Nothing in either of the statutes precluded Flamm from answering this question.