Plaintiff: Kadlec Medical Center, its insurer Western Professional Insurance Company, Plaintiffs-Appellees-Cross-Appellees Defendant: Lakeview Anesthesia Associates, A Professional Medical Association; Lakeview Medical Center LLC, doing business as Lakeview Regional Medical Center; Dr. Mark Dennis; Dr. William J. Preau, III, Defendants-Appellants-Cross-Appellees, Dr. David Baldone; Dr. Allan Parr, Defendants-Cross-Appelees Facts: Dr. Robert Berry, licensed worked at Lakeview Anesthesia Associates (LAA) in Louisiana and worked with Drs. Preau, Dennis, Baldone and Parr. HE was a shareholder from November 2000, until his termination in 2001. An investigation in November 2000 by CEO Lauderdale and an investigative team came to know of his on-duty narcotic drug use. They discussed their findings with Dr. Berry and agreed he needed to get control of his Demerol use. Dr. Berry ignored the recommendations and on …show more content…
Dennis and the other partners signed his termination letter. They explained in the letter that due to his impaired physical and mental state it was in the best interest in patient safety that he be terminated. The CEO and Dr. Berry and his partners never reported Dr. Berry to the Medical Executive Committee, The Board of Trustees, The LA Board of Medical Examiners, or the National Practitioners Data Bank. Dr. Berry eventually applied to Staff Care for locum tenens privileges at Kadlec Medical Center in Washington State. Kadlec Medical Center sent requests for letters of reference to LAA and Lakeview in order to begin credentialing of Dr. Berry. In their referral letters to Kadlec Medical Center his abuse of narcotics was not disclosed nor his termination. Kadlec relied on these referral letters. While employed at Kadlec, Dr. Berry, was involved in a car accident