Opinion ID: 218507
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Suspension of Chudacoff's Privileges

Text: Chudacoff was appointed an Assistant Professor with the University of Nevada School of Medicine in 2007 and granted staff privileges at UMC in the ob/gyn department shortly thereafter. A few months after being granted staff privileges at UMC, Chudacoff received a May 28, 2008 letter from Ellerton informing him that at its monthly meeting the day before, the MEC had suspended Chudacoff's obstetrical privileges indefinitely, imposed a direct supervision requirement on his performance of surgeries, and ordered mandatory drug testing and physical and psychological evaluations. This disciplinary action was not a thirty-day summary suspension, (which can be immediately imposed pursuant to Article XI of the hospital Bylaws upon showing that a physician's conduct poses a substantial and imminent risk of danger to others), but rather a routine administrative action, which may be undertaken only upon satisfaction of specific procedural requirements, as laid forth in the hospital Bylaws, Credentialing Manual, and Fair Hearing Plan. The letter did not explain, as required by the Bylaws, the basis for the adverse actions. Chudacoff alleges he had no knowledge until he received this letter that the MEC was considering altering his privileges. The letter also informed Chudacoff of his right to a fair hearing, pursuant to the hospital's Bylaws and Credentialing Manual. He requested one on June 2. However, before he finally received a response six weeks later, and well before he actually had an opportunity to be heard before a fair hearing committee, several significant events had already transpired: the University of Nevada had terminated his employment with the School of Medicine due to his suspension of clinical privileges; defendants had filed a report with the National Practitioners Data Bank [2] (NPDB) stating that Chudacoff's privileges had been suspended indefinitely for substandard or inadequate care and substandard or inadequate skill level; and several other health care facilities had denied or revoked Chudacoff's privileges in turn. The fair hearing committee ultimately disagreed with the MEC's suspension of Chudacoff's privileges based on the allegations of substandard care. At its October 28 monthly meeting, the MEC adopted the Fair Hearing Committee's recommendation to lift the suspension based on substandard care and instead required only peer review of Chudacoff's practice.