Opinion ID: 2387732
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the scope of the privilege created by krs 311.377

Text: KRS 311.377(2) clearly creates a privilege for peer review material. [3] The issue at bar only concerns the scope of the statute's privilege. We begin our analysis with the nearly universal rule that privileges should be strictly construed, because they contravene the fundamental principle that the public . . . has a right to every man's evidence. Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40, 45, 100 S.Ct. 906, 912, 63 L.Ed.2d 186 (1980), quoting United States v. Bryan, 339 U.S. 323, 331, 70 S.Ct. 724, 730, 94 L.Ed. 884 (1950). Or, as we have stated recently, broad claims of `privilege' are disfavored when balanced against the need for litigants to have access to relevant or material evidence. Meenach v. General Motors Corp., Ky., 891 S.W.2d 398, 402 (1995), citing United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974). Thus, claims of privilege are carefully scrutinized. Nazareth, 503 S.W.2d at 179 (1973). Moreover, the burden of proving that a privilege applies rests on the party claiming its benefit. See Robert G. Lawson, The Kentucky Evidence Law Handbook, § 505, p. 229 (3d ed. Michie 1993). Another reason for caution in construing the scope of the privilege afforded by KRS 311.377 is that Appellees' right to bring suit for their underlying medical malpractice claims is protected by Section 14 of the Kentucky Constitution. While the right to discover and present evidence is not likewise expressly protected by the Constitution, significant degradation of these rights could deny litigants, in an action protected by Section 14, due course of law as provided by that section. Appellees did not argue that the peer review privilege violates Section 14, and our holding does not rest on constitutional grounds. Our purpose in making this point is to emphasize that the creation of privilege carries with it potential constitutional implications. Balanced against a necessarily narrow construction of statutory privilege is [t]he principal rule of statutory construction . . . that the applicability and scope of a statute may be determined by ascertaining the intent and purpose of the legislature and by considering the evil which the law is intended to remedy. . . . Mitchell v. Kentucky Farm Bureau Company, Ky., 927 S.W.2d 343, 346 (1996), overruled on other grounds, Nantz v. Lexington Lincoln Mercury Subaru, Ky., 947 S.W.2d 36 (1997). We have no doubt that in creating a peer review privilege, the General Assembly's intent and purpose was not to hinder an aggrieved patient's search for the truth in a medical malpractice suit against a negligent physician or hospital. The Preamble to the 1990 Act plainly states that it was enacted for the protection of peer review participants. Appellants, in their capacity in the cases at bar as party-defendants in a medical malpractice suit, are not included in this class because they have not been sued for any action taken in the course of performing a peer review. Simply put, the statute was not enacted for the protection of defendants in a medical malpractice suit. Nonetheless, Appellants argue that the plain language of the statute allows them to use the privilege to their advantage. We disagree. Subsection 1 of KRS 311.377 provides, inter alia, that any person who applies for, or is granted, staff privileges by certain licensed health service organizations, e.g., a hospital, is deemed to have waived any claim for damages against the hospital or its designees for good faith actions taken pursuant to a peer review proceeding. Thus, the subject matter of Subsection 1 is concerned with: (1) limiting the legal rights and remedies of those persons who apply for or are granted staff privileges; and (2) protecting licensed health services organizations from being sued for good faith actions made in the performance of a peer review function. Therefore, because Appellants have not been sued for any action taken in the course of performing a peer review, Subsection 1 has no application to Appellants. And, obviously, Appellees have not waived their right to sue Appellants pursuant to Subsection 1. Thus, KRS 311.377(1) applies to neither Appellants nor Appellees. Subsection 2 provides, inter alia, that all proceedings, records, opinions, conclusions and recommendations of any entity performing a peer review function referred to in Section 1 of the statute shall be confidential and privileged and shall not be subject to discovery . . . in any civil action in any court. In light of the purpose and intent of the peer review privilege to protect peer review participants, it is reasonable to conclude that the General Assembly intended that the subject matter of Subsection 2 should be no broader in scope than the subject matter of Subsection 1. That is, the purpose of Subsection 2 is to: (1) further limit the legal rights of those persons who apply for or are granted staff privileges as described is Subsection 1; and (2) provide further legal protection to the entities described in Subsection 1 for good faith actions taken in the performance of a peer review function. Thus, KRS 311.377(2) likewise applies to neither Appellants nor Appellees. And thus, the privilege of Subsection 2 has no application to medical malpractice suits. Moreover, we have often stated that statutes will not be given a strict or literal reading where to do so would lead to an unreasonable result. Wesley v. Board of Education of Nicholas County, Ky., 403 S.W.2d 28, 30 (1966). Appellants' construction of the statute is that KRS 311.377(2) creates an absolute privilege for peer review material. In the cases at bar, an absolute privilege tilts the legal playing field against Appellees, who have not waived any rights pursuant to the statute, to the advantage of Appellants, who, as defendants in a medical malpractice suit, were not intended to benefit from the statute's privilege. Such a result is clearly unreasonable. Finally, the language which the dissenting opinion relies upon, viz: shall not be subject to discovery, subpoena, or introduction into evidence, in any civil action in any court . . . has been included unchanged in KRS 311.377 since 1976. 1976 Ky. Acts, ch. 163, § 9(2). After we held in a unanimous opinion in McGuffey v. Hall, supra , that the language in question had no application to medical malpractice suits, 557 S.W.2d at 407, the 1980 General Assembly reenacted KRS 311.177(2) verbatim. 1980 Ky. Acts, ch. 135, § 32(2). We reaffirmed the McGuffey Court's interpretation of the language in question contained in the 1980 statute in Sweasy, 771 S.W.2d at 816. The statute was reenacted in 1988, 1988 Ky. Acts, ch. 224, § 22, and yet again in 1990, 1990 Ky. Acts, ch. 271, § 1, without any changes to the operative language. By thrice reenacting KRS 311.377(2) without any alteration to the language in question, the General Assembly is presumed to have adopted the construction given to that language in McGuffey v. Hall, supra . Butler v. Groce, Ky., 880 S.W.2d 547 (1994); Cawood v. Coleman, 294 Ky. 858, 172 S.W.2d 548 (1943); Ray v. Spiers, 281 Ky. 549, 136 S.W.2d 750 (1940). While we agree with the dissent that the General Assembly could have enacted a statute extending the peer review privilege to medical malpractice actions, the fact remains that it did not. Rather, on the basis of the authority cited in the preceding paragraph, we conclude that the General Assembly has, in fact, adopted the interpretation given to KRS 311.377(2) by this Court in McGuffey v. Hall . Therefore, we hold that the peer review privilege created by KRS 311.377(2) is limited to suits against peer review entities as referred to and protected against in Subsection 1 of the statute. This construction of the statute is exemplified by our decision in Adventist Health Systems v. Trude, Ky., 880 S.W.2d 539 (1994). Adventist concerned a doctor who sued a hospital to rescind his resignation, to obtain reinstatement to the hospital's medical staff, and to recover damages stemming from the summary suspension of his medical staff privileges. Id. at 540. He sought to discover peer review material from the hospital in the preparation of his case. Id. at 540-41. The trial court ordered discovery of the peer review material. Id. at 541. The hospital filed for a writ of prohibition with the Court of Appeals, which writ was denied. Id. Thus, the underlying suit in Adventist was between a physician, who had waived legal rights under Subsection 1 of KRS 311 .377, and a peer review entity, which was described in and afforded certain legal protections by Subsection 1. The Adventist Court found that the peer review material was protected from discovery by KRS 311.377 and reversed the Court of Appeals, stating, [t]herefore, we find that the statute applies to any civil action, including the pending case. Id. at 542. In other words, the Adventist Court held that the statute is not limited to defamation cases as was stated by the McGuffey Court. See McGuffey, 557 S.W.2d at 407. In Leanhart v. Humana, Inc., Ky., 933 S.W.2d 820 (1996), we clearly stated that Adventist did not overrule by implication our prior cases that hold that peer review material is discoverable in medical malpractice suits. Id. at 821. Appellants, however, argue forcefully that this discussion in Leanhart was dicta and has no legal effect. We find no compelling reason to address this issue. However, for the sake of clarity, to the extent it may be inconsistent with this opinion, we, again, overrule Adventist . For the foregoing reasons, the decisions of the Court of Appeals denying Appellants' petitions for a writ of prohibition are hereby affirmed. COOPER, GRAVES, STUMBO, and WINTERSHEIMER, JJ., concur.