Gasiorowski v. Hose

In Gasiorowski v. Hose, 182 Ariz. 376, 897 P.2d 678 (App. 1994), the plaintiff brought a medical malpractice action against a physician whose defense was that he had threaded an epidural catheter into the plaintiff's spinal canal in accordance with the proper standard for and routine method of performing the procedure. Id. at 377, 897 P.2d at 679. The doctor testified as the defense expert on the standard of care for the procedure. Id. at 378, 897 P.2d at 680. The plaintiff sought to impeach him at trial with evidence that, fourteen months after the plaintiff was injured, the hospital had suspended the physician's on-call privileges because of several incidents in which he had had difficulty inserting the catheter. Id. at 377, 897 P.2d at 679. That case involved the admissibility for impeachment purposes of other negligent acts, not the discoverability of amounts paid in settlement of other lawsuits pursuant to agreements that require the amounts be kept confidential.