Opinion
Absolute immunity for peer reviews should be abolished
LETTER — Posted May 9, 2005
Regarding "No absolute immunity for peer reviewers" (Article, March 7): In this era of accountability and transparency, nobody is entitled to absolute immunity. Like absolute power, it will lead to exploitation, cover-up and fraud.
Most of the members of the peer review committee, unless painstakingly picked on a no-conflict-of-interest basis, are in competition with the victim. This should be counter-balanced. Courts are right in denying the absolute immunity.
Sundar V. Nilavar, MD, Urbana, Ohio
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/05/09/edlt0509.htm.