Jean Charles, Jr. v. Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida, Inc.

Summary

The court reversed the First District and held that adverse medical incident reports required to be created and maintained under Florida law do not become privileged patient safety work product merely because a provider places them in a patient safety evaluation system. It further held that the federal voluntary reporting system does not expressly or impliedly preempt Florida’s constitutional access right or related state reporting and discovery requirements. Justice Canady, dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal because the parties stipulated to dismissal before a decision on the merits.