Cases

Two years after Cedars-Sinai summarily suspended a physician’s medical staff privileges, he sued Cedars-Sinai for denial of his right to practice medicine. The trial court granted Cedars-Sinai’s anti-SLAPP motion.

GMSR represented Cedars-Sinai on appeal, prevailing on all arguments: On the anti-SLAPP’s first prong, the Court of Appeal held that the anti-SLAPP statute encompasses claims arising from discipline imposed through hospital peer review mechanisms, including summary suspensions. In that connection, it further held that a hospital’s medical staff may lawfully designate an individual physician to consider and impose summary suspension. On the second prong, the court held that the physician could not establish a probability that he would prevail on his claims because he failed to exhaust administrative remedies, a failure not excused by the hospital’s decision to lift his suspension a year after imposing it.

Case Briefs

• Respondents' Brief - View Document
• California Court of Appeal Opinion - View Document