Minutes of a hospital board meeting held after a patient contracted hepatitis C from a kidney transplant are privileged, the state Superior Court has ruled.

A three-judge panel overturned an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas ruling that the minutes were discoverable in plaintiffs Michael J. Yocabet and Christina L. Mecannic's case against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The plaintiffs requested the information in a series of interrogatories. UPMC argued counsel was present at the board meeting and therefore the privilege applied. In addition, UPMC claimed the peer review privilege applied.