Two national advocacy groups filed amicus briefs in the South Dakota Supreme Court last week arguing for a crime-fraud exemption to state medical peer review laws that protect physicians from releasing peer review records in malpractice lawsuits, according to the Argus Leader.
Under South Dakota law, conversations and notes from physician peer review committees are protected from use in lawsuits so that physicians feel comfortable discussing shortcomings in patient care and can improve them, according to the report. However, the AARP and Public Citizen filed the briefs to argue patient care would improve instead by allowing these records to be used in cases of provider fraud or criminal activity, according to the report.
At issue specifically are the cases related to Allen Sossan, DO, whose real name is Alan Soosan, according to the report.
After he was sued by dozens of patients or survivors of botched surgeries, Dr. Sossan was indicted by a grand jury last year for lying on his medical license application in South Dakota. He also failed to include information on a felony burglary conviction on his Nebraska medical license, according to the report. Two hospitals where he practiced in Yankton, S.D., including Lewis & Clark Specialty Hospital and Avera Sacred Heart, are also being sued for allowing Dr. Sossan to practice, according to the report.
The briefs filed by the advocacy groups call for a crime-fraud exception in the cases relating to Dr. Sossan. Otherwise, the victims "will be obstructed in their efforts to prove the truth despite significant evidence that defendants knew of and willfully ignored Dr. Sossan's abysmal record," the Public Citizen brief said, according to the report.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
Va. judge rules against LifePoint Health hospital in balance billing dispute
14 latest healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements\
Los Angeles hospital will pay $450k to settle patient dumping allegations