Patel v. Soriano

• Decision Date: 18 May 2004
• Citation: 369 N.J. Super. 192,848 A.2d 803
• Parties: Kumar R. PATEL, M.D., Plaintiff-Respondent/Cross-Appellant, v. Jaime R. SORIANO, M.D., and Irvington General Hospital, Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Respondents.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court

848 A.2d 803

369 N.J. Super. 192

Kumar R. PATEL, M.D., Plaintiff-Respondent/Cross-Appellant, v. Jaime R. SORIANO, M.D., and Irvington General Hospital, Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Respondents.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Argued January 28, 2004.

Decided May 18, 2004.

Kevin McNulty, Newark, argued the cause for appellants/cross-respondents (Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, attorneys; John J. Gibbons and Mr. McNulty, on the brief).

Glenn A. Clark, Morristown, argued the cause for respondent/cross-appellant (Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, attorneys; Mr. Clark, of counsel and on the brief; Edwin F. Chociey, Jr., on the brief).

Before Judges CARCHMAN, WECKER and WEISSBARD.

The opinion of the court was delivered by CARCHMAN, J.A.D.

Plaintiff Kumar A. Patel, M.D., a board certified surgeon with a subspecialty in vascular surgery, sought vascular surgical privileges at defendant Irvington General Hospital (IGH). According to plaintiff, defendant Jaime R. Soriano,¹ M.D., the chief of vascular surgery at IGH,² sabotaged plaintiff's application and communicated false statements about plaintiff to other members of IGH's medical staffÔÇöall to continue his own monopolistic control over IGH's vascular surgery department. As a result, plaintiff filed an action in the Chancery Division, seeking equitable relief as well as damages for both Soriano's and IGH's misconduct. Following an extended bench trial after transfer to the Law Division, the trial judge found in favor of plaintiff and concluded that both IGH and Soriano had defamed plaintiff and had tortiously interfered with plaintiff's reasonable expectation of economic advantage. In addition, she found that Soriano had violated the New Jersey Antitrust Act, N.J.S.A. 56:9-1 to -19. The judge awarded joint and several damages including prejudgment interest and costs of $1,195,377.61 against IGH and Soriano, and $1,184,316.25, including prejudgment interest and costs, against Soriano individually. The judge dismissed plaintiff's breach of contract claim and concluded that IGH was immune from antitrust liability. Both defendants appeal and plaintiff cross-appeals.

We reach the following conclusions:

1) the trial judge's finding of liability for tortious interference was correct and is affirmed;

2) the judge's factual findings support a cause of action for trade libel rather than defamation and a judgment of liability for the former cause of action shall be entered on remand;

3) the judgment for liability and damages for antitrust violations is reversed;

4) the matter shall be remanded for reconsideration of damages on the causes of action for tortious interference and trade libel as well as punitive damages;

5) the cross-appeal is dismissed;

6) in all other respects the judgment is affirmed.

I.

After completing his medical training, plaintiff ultimately became board certified in both general and vascular surgery. In 1984, plaintiff was named chief of vascular surgery at Metropolitan Hospital, an 800-bed hospital in New York City where among his other duties, he oversaw Metropolitan's vascular laboratory. During his years of practice, plaintiff served as an associate professor of surgery at a medical college, was a member of several medical societies, authored numerous publications, served as a consultant to various insurance companies, and participated in numerous symposia and presentations to the medical profession.

Plaintiff became licensed to practice medicine in New Jersey in 1992. At that time, he decided to leave Metropolitan because of the perceived need to start a private practice in anticipation of his three children going to college. In 1993, plaintiff applied for and was granted attending physician privileges at Mountainside Hospital St. Joseph's Hospital, and Wayne General Hospital, all in New Jersey.

In February 1995, at the urging of a medical colleague, Dr. Shirish Patrawalla, plaintiff applied for vascular surgical privileges at IGH. Patrawalla, a cardiologist at IGH, felt that IGH needed a vascular surgeon and told plaintiff that other doctors at IGH shared this belief. Plaintiff claimed that Patrawalla told him that he could expect to perform thirty to forty percent of the vascular surgery procedures at IGH. However, Patrawalla also warned him to expect resistance from defendant, the chair of vascular surgery at IGH. Although he was not board certified in vascular surgery, defendant performed virtually all of IGH's vascular surgery procedures and maintained significant influence at the hospital through his membership on various committees and the board of trustees. Plaintiff decided to apply for privileges at IGH because he realized that he needed more than one hospital in which to develop his practice in vascular surgery and IGH appeared to be a promising opportunity for such development. In plaintiff's IGH application, he listed four referencesÔÇöDr. Roy Clauss, plaintiff's surgical colleague and immediate predecessor as chief of vascular surgery at Metropolitan; Dr. Herbert Dardik, a nationally renowned vascular surgeon at Englewood Hospital who was professionally acquainted with plaintiff; Dr. Kamalakar Ayyagari, on staff at IGH, but with whom plaintiff had never worked; and Patrawalla. All of these individuals wrote favorable letters of recommendation supporting plaintiff's application. No one from IGH informed plaintiff that his references were deficient.

Janice Nemeckay, IGH's director of medical staff affairs, oversaw the compilation of documents that comprised a doctor's application for medical staff privileges and would be reviewed by the various levels of peer review at the hospital. She contacted both the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners and the New York Division of Professional Licensing Services and determined that plaintiff was a doctor in good standing in both states with no derogatory information reported. Nemeckay also reached out to every hospital where plaintiff had privileges as of February 1995. As part of plaintiff's application, he had signed releases which allowed IGH to obtain information about him from third parties. These releases all contained the following language: "You are hereby requested and authorized to furnish, make available and release to Irvington General Hospital, its medical staff and their authorized representatives all information concerning professional competence, ethics, character, and other qualifications relevant to my application for medical staff appointment and clinical privileges."

Dr. Francis Wyckoff, the head of surgery at Mountainside, completed the confidential evaluation form for plaintiff. Mountainside did not have a separate section for, or a separate director of, vascular surgery. Because plaintiff had been at Mountainside for less than two years when Wyckoff reviewed him, he was still under supervision at that hospital, a standard practice at most institutions. Wyckoff rated plaintiff "superior" in every category except one, in which he rated plaintiff "good." Wyckoff recommended "without reservation" that plaintiff be granted privileges at IGH "with supervision and observation as required in Irvington General's Dept. of Surgery." His impression of plaintiff was "favorable."

Dr. Joseph Farrell, a general surgeon and the acting chairman of surgery at St. Joseph's at the time of plaintiff's application to IGH, rated plaintiff "good" in all categories. Farrell considered plaintiff a "capable" applicant and recommended him for privileges "without reservation." The surgical department chair at Wayne General was unable to comment on plaintiff's application because plaintiff had little or no surgical activity at that hospital.

Dr. William Stahl, the chief of surgery at Metropolitan, also completed an evaluation form for plaintiff, rating plaintiff "superior" in all categories. Stahl considered plaintiff an "excellent individual and surgeon" and recommended him without reservation.

According to Nemeckay, plaintiff's completed application was referred to Dr. Capistrano Luzano, the director of the department of general surgery at IGH, for his recommendation. Luzano noted on his recommendation to the credentials committee that the "record speak[s] for itself and elected not to interview plaintiff.

This seemingly routine processing of plaintiff's application appeared on track when plaintiff met with defendant who, as chair of the surgery division and the director of vascular surgery, was next to review plaintiff's file.³ He interviewed plaintiff on June 13, 1995, the same day he reviewed the file. Plaintiff claimed that the interview was brief and defendant did not discuss plaintiff's references.

Defendant considered the interview to be cordial and uneventful and gave no indication that the application was deficient in any way. However, he wrote a letter to Patrawalla, the chairman of the credentials committee, asking that the committee postpone its interview of plaintiff since defendant was still obtaining information.

On June 29, 1995, Nemeckay notified plaintiff that his file was complete and that he would be interviewed by the credentials committee on July 12, 1995. On July 12, 1995, when plaintiff met with the committee, Patrawalla handed him a letter dated July 11, 1995, from defendant. According to this letter, which was addressed to plaintiff, defendant asked plaintiff to send him a list of all the surgical cases he had performed since September 1993. Plaintiff was also asked to include the following information: the patient's name, pre- and post-operative diagnosis, date and type of procedure performed, and any complications or mortality. The list was to be certified by the chief of vascular surgery or general surgery at the appropriate institution. The credentials committee informed plaintiff that defendant, not the committee, was requesting the information. The committee meeting minutes for July 12, 1995,...