§ 1443. Records immune from discovery

(a) The proceedings, reports, and records of committees defined in section 1441 of this title including information and evidence required to be reported pursuant to section 1317 of this title shall be confidential and privileged, and shall not be subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil action against a provider of professional health services arising out of the matters that are subject to evaluation and review by such committee, and no person who was in attendance at a meeting of such committee shall be permitted or required to testify in any such civil action as to any findings, recommendations, evaluations, opinions, or other actions of such committees or any members thereof. However, information, documents, or records otherwise available from original sources are not to be construed as immune from discovery or use in any such action merely because they were presented during the proceedings of such committee, nor shall any person who testifies before such committee or who is a member of such committee be prevented from testifying as to matters within his or her knowledge, but such witness shall not be asked about his or her testimony before such committee or about opinions formed by him or her as a result of such committee hearings.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a peer review committee shall provide the Board with all supporting information and evidence pertaining to information required to be reported under section 1317 of this title and shall provide access to such information and evidence to the Department of Health as provided in and for the purpose of determining a hospital’s compliance with 18 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 43a.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1318 of this title, relating to accessibility and confidentiality of disciplinary matters, the proceedings, reports, records, reporting information, and evidence of a peer review committee provided by the committee to the Board in accordance with the provisions of section 1317 of this title or to the Department of Health in accordance with 18 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 43a and subsection (b) of this section may be used by the Board or by the Commissioner of Health for disciplinary and enforcement purposes but shall not be subject to public disclosure. (Added 1975, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. April 7, 1976; amended 1991, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 34; 2001, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 14, eff. June 13, 2002; 2005, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 325; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 276; 2023, No. 53, § 127, eff. June 8, 2023.)