The antitrust laws and the medical peer review process.

Antitrust immunity granted in a far-reaching peer review case. Austin v. McNamara.

H ealthcarc facilities and physician peer reviewers are finding protection in the immunities provided by the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 ( H C Q I A ) . On November 6, 1992, in Austin v. McNamara the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court's summar)' judgment in favor of a California hospital and several physician peer reviewers. The two-toone decision a...

The Viewpoints of Alborz University of Medical Sciences’ Faculty Members on Open Peer Review of Journal Articles

Background and Aim: The open peer review process, which is one of the peer-reviewed methods in journals, has been accepted in scientific forums. The aim of this study was to investigate the points of view of university faculty members about the open peer review process of journal articles. Materials and Methods: The study used a descriptive survey. The sample size was calculated using the Coch...

The antitrust laws and professional discipline in medicine.

The decision in Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar' in 1975 began a new chapter in the application of the antitrust laws to the professions and their professional organizations. The prosecution of professional organizations, and particularly of organized medicine, under the antitrust laws is not an entirely new development, however, because professional organizations had been involved in antitrust ...

The Infectious Diseases Society of America Lyme guidelines: a cautionary tale about the development of clinical practice guidelines

Flawed clinical practice guidelines may compromise patient care. Commercial conflicts of interest on panels that write treatment guidelines are particularly problematic, because panelists may have conflicting agendas that influence guideline recommendations. Historically, there has been no legal remedy for conflicts of interest on guidelines panels. However, in May 2008, the Attorney General of...

Medical Peer Review, Antitrust, and the Effect of Statutory Reform