Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center v. Superior Court

Petitioner Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (the Hospital) contends the records of its institutional review board (IRB) are exempt from discovery under the protection of Evidence Code section 1157 1 for records of organized committees of medical staffs that have the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered in the Hospital. The Hospital seeks a writ of mandate directing respondent court to *690 vacate its order compelling interrogatory responses and production of documents concerning information held solely by the Hospital’s IRB. We hold the IRB is a medical staff committee whose records are exempt from discovery under section 1157. Therefore, we grant the petition.

BACKGROUND

Regulatory Scheme

In order to engage in biomedical research under federal law, a hospital must have an IRB to approve and provide continuing review of clinical investigations. An IRB is “any board, committee, or other group formally designated by an institution to review, to approve the initiation of, and to conduct periodic review of, biomedical research involving human subjects. The primary purpose of such review is to assure the protection of the rights…