(1) (a) A professional review committee may be established pursuant to this section to investigate complaints against a person licensed to practice dentistry under this article 220. If a professional review committee is formed, the committee must include in its membership at least three persons licensed to practice dentistry under this article 220. The committee may be authorized to act only by: (I) The board; or (II) A society or an association of persons licensed to practice dentistry under this article 220 whose membership includes not less than one-third of the persons licensed to practice dentistry under this article 220 residing in this state, if the licensee whose services are the subject of review is a member of the society or association. (b) A professional review committee of a society or an association of persons licensed pursuant to this article 220 shall: (I) Notify the board within sixty days after the review committee analyzes care provided by a licensee and determines that the care may not meet generally accepted standards or that the licensee has otherwise violated any provision of this article 220. The licensee may be subject to disciplinary action by the board. (II) Allow the board or its designee to conduct a periodic audit of records of the review committee. A person designated by the board to conduct the audit must be a licensed or retired dentist from any state. The board or its designee shall conduct the audit no more than twice annually. If any pattern of behavior of a licensee is identified that may constitute reasonable grounds to believe there has been a violation of this article 220, all relevant records of the review committee are subject to a subpoena issued by the board. (c) (I) The proceedings and records of a review committee must be held in confidence and are not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil action against a dentist arising out of the matters that are the subject of evaluation and review by the committee. However, records of closed proceedings and investigations are available to the particular licensee under review and the complainant involved in the proceedings. (II) A person who was in attendance at a meeting of the committee shall not be permitted or required to testify in any civil action as to any evidence or other matters produced or presented during the proceedings of the committee or as to any findings, recommendations, evaluations, opinions, or other actions of the committee or any members of the committee. However, information, documents, or records otherwise available from original sources are not protected from discovery or use in a civil action merely because they were presented during proceedings of the committee, and any documents or records that have been presented to the review committee by any witness must be returned to the witness, if requested by the witness or if ordered to be produced by a court in any action, with copies to be retained by the committee at its discretion. (III) Any person who testifies before the committee or who is a member of the committee is not prevented from testifying as to matters within the person's knowledge, but the person may not be asked about the person's testimony before the committee or opinions the person formed as a result of the committee hearings. (2) Any member of a professional review committee authorized by the board, any member of a professional review committee's staff, any witness or consultant appearing or testifying before the professional review committee, and any person who lodges a complaint pursuant to this article 220 is granted the same immunity and is subject to the same conditions for immunity as specified in section 12-20-402. The immunity provided by this subsection (2) extends to the members of an authorized professional review committee of a society or an association of persons licensed pursuant to this article 220 and witnesses or consultants appearing before the committee if the committee is authorized to act as provided in subsection (1)(a)(II) of this section.
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