When something unusual or untoward happens in a hospital, the staff is required to fill out an incident report. Anyone who witnessed the event or participated in the event will usually contribute to filling out an incident report.

The problem is trying to get a copy of that incident report. The hospital attorneys argue that the report is "Privileged" and protected from prying eyes by the NYS Public Health Law.

The problem for injured victims is that they're right. That means that the hospital will not release the report. The reason? It's designed to allow the staff to discuss freely what happened without fear of legal retribution.

It's primarily designed to improve patient care so that events like those that happened do not happen again.
Gerry practices law exclusively in the State of New York. Within New York he practices primarily in the following counties: New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk. Technically, Brooklyn is known as "Kings County," and Manhattan and New York City are known as "New York County." Staten Island is known as "Richmond County." These counties make up the New York metropolitan area.