West Covina Hospital v. Superior Court

Nature of Proceeding:

Discussion:

Evidence Code section 1157 provides: “Neither the proceedings nor the records of organized committees of medical, medical-dental or veterinary staffs in hospitals having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered in the hospital or medical or dental review or dental hygienist review or chiropractic review or veterinary review committees of local medical, dental, dental hygienist, veterinary, or chiropractic societies shall be subject to discovery. Except as hereinafter provided, no person in attendance at a meeting of any such committee shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat. The prohibition relating to discovery or testimony shall not apply to [1] the statements made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was reviewed at such meeting, or [2] to any person requesting hospital staff privileges, or in [3] any action against an insurance carrier alleging bad faith by the carrier in refusing to accept a settlement offer within the policy limits.

“The prohibitions contained in this section shall not apply to…