State level expert review committees--are they protected?

Recently, the functioning of State-level expert review committees, operating under the auspices of professional medical societies, has become problematic. In particular, an increased number of State maternal mortality review committees have become inactive or disbanded primarily because of concern over liability of committee members and committee proceedings being used in litigation. A study was conducted of legal protection of the expert review process at the State level. The relevant immunity and privilege statutes of each State and the protection afforded by State law were analyzed. Findings show that, in all but a few States, the legal risk of participating in expert review is negligible. Most States have statutes that protect information involved in the review process from disclosure or use in subsequent litigation. Laws in most States also protect participants in the review process (both members of committees and providers of information) from civil liability.