Goldberg B A
Am J Law Med. 1984 Summer;10(2):151-67.
The peer review privilege prevents patient-plaintiffs from obtaining the hospital records prepared in connection with quality review proceedings. The privilege, created by statute in most states, is rationalized by the need for confidentiality in promoting complete and candid peer review. In this Article, the Author argues that the privilege cannot effectively promote confidentiality since a common exception allows physicians to obtain the records when seeking judicial review of proceedings leading to their exclusion or dismissal from hospital medical staffs. More significantly, the Author notes that while the privilege began as a device to protect physicians from testifying against their will in malpractice suits--a condonation of the "conspiracy of silence"--it has evolved into a vehicle which enables hospitals to conceal the evidence of their own neglect.
同行评审特权使患者原告无法获取与质量评审程序相关的医院记录。该特权由多数州的法规创设，其依据在于，在促进全面且坦诚的同行评审方面需要保密。在本文中，作者认为该特权无法有效促进保密，因为一项常见的例外情形允许医生在寻求对导致其被医院医务人员开除或免职的程序进行司法审查时获取这些记录。更重要的是，作者指出，虽然该特权起初是作为一种保护医生在医疗事故诉讼中免于违背其意愿作证的手段——对“沉默共谋”的宽恕——但它已演变成一种使医院能够隐瞒自身疏忽证据的工具。
