Smalley v. Mann
In this dental malpractice action, a jury found defendant and respondent Dr. Stephen B. Mann had not committed malpractice in treating plaintiff and appellant Edward D. Smalley. On appeal, Smalley challenges the trial court’s in limine order excluding evidence of the Monterey Bay Dental Society and California Dental Association’s peer review decision regarding his treatment with Dr. Mann on a number of grounds.
We review the admissibility of the peer review decision under Evidence Code section 1157,[1] which limits the discovery of the records and proceedings of professional society peer review committees and the compelled testimony of persons who attend peer review committee meetings, and hold that the Monterey Bay Dental Society (MBDS) and the California Dental Association (CDA) were peer review societies within the meaning of section 1157. We also hold that the peer review decision in this case was inadmissible under section 1157 and that the trial court did not err when it ruled that Smalley’s experts could not testify regarding the peer review decision. We will therefore affirm the judgment.
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