II. Executive Summary
In general, our review of this matter discloses the following:
- Hospitals and peer review participants risk liability if they base decisions to grant or deny privileges on factors other than the demonstrated experience, training, and competence of the family physician in question.
- Physicians who join together, directly or indirectly, through medical staff actions or otherwise, (i) to refuse to provide surgical or other backup to family physicians or (ii) to exclude family physicians from practice, may be engaged in a group boycott constituting a violation of the antitrust laws.
