The Tyler Court of Appeals recently held that, under the plain language of the Texas statute, the medical peer review committee privilege is not applicable to the personnel files of nursing and administrative personnel. In In re Highland Pines Nursing Home, Ltd., 2003 WL 22682356 (Tex. App. - Tyler Nov. 13, 2003), the plaintiff's estate alleged that the decedent had received negligent medical care while a resident at the nursing home, and accordingly, sought discovery of personnel files and performance evaluations for all nursing personnel, administrators, directors of nursing, and departmental heads at the Highland Pines Nursing Home. The nursing home asserted that the personnel files were protected by the medical peer review privilege, the medical committee privilege, and the nursing peer review privilege. In addition to ruling that the medical peer review committee privilege was inapplicable, the court determined that the medical committee privilege and the nursing peer review privilege had been waived.
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