Oskooi

*236 Opinion

Ophthalmologist Firooz Oskooi did not disclose his past hospital affiliations when he applied for staff privileges at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center (the Hospital). After the Hospital summarily suspended him for those omissions, he filed a petition in superior court to force the Hospital to set aside the suspension, but failed to take any further action until four years later. Despite the trial court’s finding that Oskooi had no excuse for the delay, it denied the Hospital’s motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution. Thereafter, it set aside Oskooi’s suspension. The trial court erred on both counts.

I

Oskooi sought staff privileges at the Hospital in 1986. He completed the application, but in answering section 6, which asked for “all current and previous hospital affiliations,’’ and section 13, which asked for “previous practice[s],” Oskooi omitted his previous affiliations with Hawaii and Illinois hospitals. In fact, despite warnings on the application that “any significant omission is cause for summary dismissal,” Oskooi failed to mention those hospitals anywhere on the form.

Oskooi was granted provisional staff privileges in July but the…

Instead of analyzing this case on its procedural aspects, I would confine our decision to the substantive issue before us and reverse on the merits. The hospital clearly had substantial evidence to summarily suspend Dr. Oskooi.

Let us start by asking a basic question: how in the world did the judiciary ever get into the business of Monday morning quarterbacking the decisions of private hospitals about staff doctors? The answer is laid out in two *246 footnotes in a California Supreme Court case, Pinsker v. Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists (1974) 12 Cal.3d 541 [ 116 Cal.Rptr. 245 , 526 P.2d 253 ] (Pinsker II). 1 In footnotes 7 and 8 on page 550, Justice Tobriner explained that courts have imposed a right to “fair procedure” in the membership decisions of certain private associations, such as professional associations and labor unions, since late Victorian times.

The initial theory was that these groups enjoyed monopoly power over the right of individuals to practice their trade or profession. 2 By 1977, however, the Supreme Court thought it enough that association membership merely affect “an important economic interest.” (Ezekial v. Winkley (1977) 20 Cal.3d 267, 277 [ 142…

"‘I’m very brave generally . . . only to-day I happen to have a headache.’ ’ 1 Do I ever, having found myself trapped between two opinions that need a case. But I cannot subscribe to the analysis employed by either of my colleagues and simply accept that this panel has agreed to disagree. In that vein, I offer the following.

*251 I

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center (FVRHMC or the hospital) first challenges the judgment on procedural grounds. 2 It contends the superior court abused its discretion in refusing to dismiss Oskooi’s petition for delay in prosecution. While this is precisely the argument a party would make when seeking a pretrial writ (see, e.g., Denham v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 557 [ 86 Cal.Rptr. 65 , 468 P.2d 193 ]; Martindale v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 568 [ 86 Cal.Rptr. 71 , 468 P.2d 199 ]), it has little relevance at this stage; the California Constitution precludes this court from reversing a judgment “unless, after an examination of the entire cause, including the evidence, the court shall be of the opinion that the error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice.” (Cal. Const., art. VI, §13.) That little problem,…

Ophthalmologist Firooz Oskooi did not disclose his past hospital affiliations when he applied for staff privileges at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center (the Hospital). After the Hospital summarily suspended him for those omissions, he filed a petition in superior court to force the Hospital to set aside the suspension, but failed to take any further action until four years later. Despite the trial court's finding that Oskooi had no excuse for the delay, it denied the Hospital's motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution. Thereafter, it set aside Oskooi's suspension. The trial court erred on both counts.

Oskooi sought staff privileges at the Hospital in 1986. He completed the application, but in answering section 6, which asked for "all current and previous hospital affiliations," and section 13, which asked for "previous practice[s]," Oskooi omitted his previous affiliations with Hawaii and Illinois hospitals. In fact, despite warnings on the application that "any significant omission is cause for summary dismissal," Oskooi failed to mention those hospitals anywhere on the form.

Oskooi was granted provisional staff privileges in July…