Michael Callahan, a partner in the firm’s Health Care Practice, was quoted in an article in Medical Staff Briefing on provisions designed to protect hospitals and medical staffs from lawsuits brought by physicians in response to negative credentialing or peer review decisions. In the article, Mr. Callahan says that physicians may find these provisions unfair. “If you are the one who is being kicked off [the medical staff] or getting your privileges restricted, you may think it is going overboard,” he says. The Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 states that defendants may recover attorneys’ fees from a physician who files a frivolous or bad-faith claim, and some medical staff bylaws include no-sue provisions. Furthermore, some states see consider medical staff bylaws a contract between the physician and the medical staff. Mr. Callahan says that courts will most likely see the contract as binding, adding, “It is a factor that any physician must take into consideration and talk to his or her counsel about when they decide to pursue any type of litigation.” (“Physicians think twice over ‘loser pays’ rule,” February 2009)