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I grew up in a town called Twinsburg, Ohio. Twinsburg is about 30 miles east of Cleveland and home to the largest gathering of twins in the world to date. Each year, on the first weekend of August, sets of multiples and their families from all over the world make Twinsburg their home for the weekend. Although the people who live in Twinsburg might find it a little annoying that it takes three times as long to get across town, it is an amazing sight to see. Twins Days is open to all multiples including identical, fraternal, triples and quads. This year marks the 40 th year that the festival has existed. Each year, both the attendance and sets of twins get larger. There are many activities to keep you busy during the festival. Some of these activities include the Royal Court Parade, talent show, golf outing, volleyball tournament and much more. This gathering is not only for fun and games, but research opportunities for those studying multiples are also a main goal of the festival. Some of these research projects come from Long Island University, West Virginia University, Penn State University and Syracuse University. I have been to the festival for as many years as I can remember. This is a sight that you will never be able to wrap your head around. Most sets of multiples will dress identical for the weekend, some sets of twins are married, and some even have more than two sets in a single family! The festival offers rides, games, carnival food, entertainment, fireworks and is an extremely unique experience to say the least. Come be a Twinsburg Tiger for the day and witness seeing double, or triple, for yourself. Visit www.Twinsdays.org for more information.

Last week, presidential candidate Donald Trump took issue with a description of Sen. John McCain as a “war hero”. Trump suggested that Sen. McCain, who was shot down over Hanoi and subsequently spent 5 ½ years of his life in a Vietnamese prison camp, was only being called a hero because he had been captured.  Trump noted that he preferred “people who weren’t captured”. Folks who know me well will tell you that I always do my best to see both sides of any argument before I decide where I am going to come down.  Experience has shown me that very few issues in life are as clear-cut as they may seem to be at first blush, so it’s important to make sure that all facts have been gathered and properly considered before passing judgment.  No matter how ridiculous an argument may seem, there is always a possibility that once you get past the initial impression, the argument may hold some merit.  With those thoughts in mind, I have spent more than a few minutes considering the comments made by Donald Trump.  I’ve thought, I’ve pondered, I’ve read and I’ve even Googled.  I’ve looked for any rational explanation for how it is that a man with enough business sense to accumulate billions of dollars in personal wealth could say something so offensive.  I’m still looking. Any person who has ever put on a uniform and sworn to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” deserves to be called a hero.  Our servicemen and women dedicate years of their lives to the defense of our country and its citizens.  They leave their homes, their friends and their families for months and sometimes years at a time, traveling thousands of miles to hostile foreign lands where they risk their lives every single day. They witness friends being killed by a sniper’s bullet, or dismembered by a roadside bomb.  They live every minute of every day with the knowledge that the next bullet or the next IED could be for them.  I can’t imagine the courage it takes to get up and function each day in the face of that sort of danger. In my mind, any person who makes personal sacrifice for the greater good is a hero.  There can be no greater sacrifice than that made by the members of our military and their families.  My Dad, who served in WWII was a hero.  So was my Uncle Junior, who earned a Purple Heart in that war.  So are George Lewis, Dave Ealy, B.B. Smith, Kevin Cecil, Jimmy Whorton, Jim Matthews, John Mercer, and every other man and woman who has ever worn the uniform of our great nation. We owe our veterans a debt that is far greater than we can ever repay.  We owe them our respect, our admiration, and our loyalty.  Donald Trump owes them more than that.  He owes them an apology.

Have you ever received a surprise announcement —like wear your pajamas all day today? Sounds good to me… Well, my youngest daughter gets to do certain things regularly at school or in her aftercare program. She gets so excited to have a special theme to look forward to and plans for it for days.  The evening after one of these particular days, she talks my ear off about the fun they had along the way and some of the things she saw. Then, I thought, what a fun idea…to randomly brighten up one’s day!  That’s how I happened upon the National Day Calendar. If you are ever looking for something fun to do to spruce up your week, you can always look up the National Day Calendar and then call upon your family, friends and co-workers to go all out in a celebration. This is really fun thing to do!  You can pick and choose once a week, once a month, just once in a while, or every day, if you like.  This gives you something that makes you smile and to look forward to something out of the norm. Each day of the year has one or more things designated as a National Day.  This calendar is a really fun tool for people of all ages.  I particularly love the ones designated to food. Well, guess what kids?  We are having a party and the guest of honor is the hamburger today!   It would be fun to let them take over in the kitchen and make the burger their own way while donning aprons, chef hats, and  pretending to be Chef Ramsay, or maybe not…how about Julia Child? There are days that the National Day is celebrating a certain someone, whether it be your child or spouse or the crossing guard at the school; how good it will feel to look forward to making that person have a special day of recognition when they least expect it and learn it was their designated day? Some days can require an activity of a sport, reading, or watching a movie together. There may be a day designated that requires a specific color of clothing, or hat day… or  a bring your teddy bear everywhere with you day. (So, when you see me come to work with one sitting on my desk, you’ll know what day it is!) Whatever day it is, it opens up conversations.  It brings closeness and a lot of fun memories. Bringing people together to participate in something silly can really make you bond, not just with those nearest and dearest to you, but sometimes you make new acquaintances that end up becoming really close friends just from sharing this one special certain day and a good ole belly laugh together. Lastly, how about creating your own calendar days?  Let everyone in your household have input.  Not only do they look forward to what they have chosen on certain days, but, they look forward to doing something outrageous in celebration of someone else’s day.  It almost can be a competition to come up with new ideas.  I mean, they always have to be bigger and better than the last,. Heck, that’s part of the fun!

I come from the small town of Cameron where, as a community, it is often a struggle to make improvements to structures or facilities within our small town due to limited funds or lack of personnel. Because we are so limited, we are very much a “hands-on” community.  By that I mean there are many people who are more than willing to pitch in and volunteer in order to make something happen.  One example of this is the restoration of our historic 75 year old Cameron Community Pool.  It is a unique, semi-circular shaped pool built in 1939, and placed on the National Historic Register.  In 2012, a group of concerned citizens formed The Friends of Cameron Pool Committee and began the process of restoring the community swimming pool, which had been closed for approximately five years.  It was a daunting task, but one that many people were more than willing to undertake.  Every weekend for almost a year, volunteers went to the pool to mow, weed eat, scrub, paint, etc.  A new roof was installed on the pool house and concession stand, the plumbing and piping systems were upgraded, concrete pads were poured, the electrical system was upgraded, and many, many hours of volunteer work were put in.  There were multiple fundraisers—spaghetti dinners, chicken roasts, musical events, t-shirts being sold, etc.  Letters were written soliciting donations from corporations, and the donations began pouring in.  People who grew up in Cameron and moved away heard of the project and sent donations.  What was originally quoted as an almost $400,000 restoration, which was not affordable for the city, was completed for approximately $70,000 and a lot of blood, sweat and tears from volunteers.  On Memorial Day weekend 2013, the pool celebrated its grand reopening. Another project currently underway in our little town is building a Veteran’s Memorial Park.  When I was growing up, a trip to Cameron meant seeing the old war cannon in the center of town.   I’m not really sure why, but the cannon was later moved to the lawn behind the bank.  Many people missed having it in the center of town, and a group of gentlemen from the American Legion are almost ready to put the old cannon back where it belongs---in the center of town next to the old train depot which, as you might have guessed, was also restored with the help of volunteers. If you see something within your community that needs improved upon—don’t complain—pitch in and lend a hand and be part of the solution and not part of the problem.  Volunteering for your community or for a cause near and dear to your heart can be a wonderful thing.

As I near the end of my third summer here at Bordas & Bordas, I still can't seem to find a completely accurate job description. I like to think I've done a little bit of everything from unpacking dishes to reading The Reptile.  I firmly believe, however, each experience and task will somehow help me in the future, like when I buy dishes for my own house and have to organize them. My summers of interning have been far from uneventful.  I remember my first day I was given the daunting task of learning names around the office, but not just a few of the names and faces, all of them!  Just when I thought I had that down, I discovered there was a whole building with more people next door!  That was my first challenge, and a challenge it was. My second challenge was learning the ins and outs of the scanner and copier (dun dun dunnn).  The only place that I have seen more mail and packages is probably the post office itself, but again, I truly believe that was a life skill. I couldn't be a successful businesswoman of a lawyer without. Last summer when I had mastered the copy machine, I was able to really learn how the process of a case works.  From the initial consultation, to filing a case and taking depositions, to being in the courtroom, that process was what really got me hooked.  I was amazed by the variety of cases that came through these doors and how quickly people were able to get help and closure. Geoff Brown, one of the firm’s partners, has given me opportunities far beyond the realm of work I intended.  He became a personal mentor advising me what he would do with certain types of cases and how he approaches research.  I remember being star struck when Mr. Brown would receive daily phone calls from so many world-renowned experts. Those days were the ones where I realized law was for me. One of the best memories of my times in the Bordas & Bordas office was a job completely unrelated to anything law.  Last summer during the week of Jamboree in the Hills, thousands upon thousands of keychain flashlights were handed out to Jambo-goers.  Unfortunately, when the keychain order was first received, each one was individually packaged. I, along with two fellow high school interns, spent the week unwrapping each keychain.  We were quick to discover that the plastic wrapping was better off cut rather than ripped, and about six or seven could be cut at a time.  The three of us and whomever else volunteered laughed the whole time in utter disbelief that we were spending hours upon hours opening the packages.  The office was a mountain range of plastic wrap.  Even though I'm not really sure what I learned from working with the keychains, that experience was just plain fun.  It was even more fun than the day I carried files to the basement if you can believe that. Looking back on my career at Bordas & Bordas, I never imagined that this experience would be the one guiding my college selection as I enter my senior year of high school.  I was interested in law and lucky enough to have been given this opportunity, but never really thought this is what I imagine myself doing for the rest of my life.  I'll keep my experiences here in mind as I progress through my senior year, college and law school.  Who knows, maybe someday I could be working here again, but next time, as a lawyer or partner.

Robert Mohney, my grandpa, is one of the most amazing men I have ever met. He’s one of those people who has truly done it all. In his life he has been a principal, a veteran, visited every president’s home, raised a child (my dad, Mark), scored a hole-in-one at a Florida golf course and has been married to his best friend for 61 years and counting. On February 14, 2015, the kindest soul I know was diagnosed with brain cancer. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, 70,000 people will be diagnosed with a brain tumor this year and 700,000 are living with a brain tumor in the United States. I never imagined that my grandpa would be part of this statistic. As far as I knew, he was completely healthy. He attended as many of my college basketball games as he could, made it to church every Sunday and golfed as often as he could. I want to say that this awful disease has not changed him, but sadly it has. However, he is still the heartwarming, funny and charming man I always have known. With my dad being an only child, the diagnosis has been extremely hard on my family. My grandpa was moved to a nursing home close to my parents and my grandmother. Although my grandfather was given seven months to live, he is still trying to live life to the fullest. He has many friends in his new housing arrangement and they adore his company. He is constantly keeping the staff laughing and has even given them each a nickname. While his mind is boggled at the moment, my grandpa’s memory is sharper than ever. He still remembers countless numbers of his childhood stories, birthdays, pets’ names and most importantly, his love for golf. My grandfather could have called it quits many months ago, but he chooses to keep smiling and reminding his family of the wonderful life he has given us. May is brain tumor awareness month, but I believe we always should be raising awareness of this disease that is becoming more common. Having my grandfather still with us is such blessing and I personally want to send prayers to all the other people affected by this disease. Never stop fighting.

Last week, while I was having my usual breakfast at Bob’s Lunch, I happened to overhear a conversation between two young men who were seated at a nearby table. It seemed obvious to me that they were not from this area, pipeline workers would be my guess, and they were discussing life in Moundsville.  “I don’t know why anyone would want to live in this podunk little town,” said one of the men.  “I’d kill myself if I had to spend the rest of my life here.”  The conversation continued from there, with the men complaining about having nothing to do and nowhere to go in their free time.  It was a conversation I have heard many times before, and each time I do, I have to fight off the urge to respond.  Instead, I write off such comments as evidence of the foolishness of youth combined with the cynicism of those who have yet to learn of the things that are really important in life. I have lived in Moundsville for all but a few of my 58 years, and I can say without hesitation that I can’t imagine anything better than life in what I have come to call “Small Town West Virginia”.  If a person thinks there is nothing to do in this area, he just isn’t looking.  Within an hour’s drive, a person can experience everything from old-time bluegrass music by the riverfront to a classic symphony orchestra.  We have beautiful parks, hunting, fishing, shooting sports, archery, water sports, golf, running/biking/hiking/ATV trails, zip lines, museums, a prison and a palace, NCAA sports, professional baseball and NFL football.  We have Undo’s, Bob’s Lunch, Coleman’s Fish Market, and dozens of other great places to eat, full of history and tradition.  We have Jamboree in the Hills, Slim Lehart and Brad Paisley.  But the one thing we have that makes life in Small Town West Virginia the best:  we have each other.  We are family. The “every man for himself” attitude that saturates life in the big city just doesn’t exist here.  Sure, we have our differences, our political debates and our neighborhood rivalries.  But when tragedy strikes, we are family.  That fact was never more apparent than after the tragic fire that struck the St. John Church in Benwood earlier this year.  Communities saw family members in need, and they sprang into action.  People in McMechen and Glen Dale opened the doors of their churches to displaced parishioners.  Teachers and students in Cameron rallied to collect needed school books and supplies.  Administrators in Moundsville opened the doors of a closed school building so that children could finish their academic year in safety.  Entire communities prayed for their family members in another town. I like to think that people who bash life in communities like ours have yet to understand the difference between “fun” and “happiness”.  Sure, big cities may provide more opportunities for a few hours of fun, but I’ll take the lifetime of happiness that comes from being part of a big family in a small community.  Give me Small Town West Virginia any time.

I was recently invited by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball organization to be a Pirates “Big Leaguer for a Day.” It’s something that the Pirates apparently do every year in appreciation for the support that people and organizations provide to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  This year, the Bordas & Bordas law firm entered into a business relationship with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  For the first time, we have a suite at the Pirates games and are able to entertain 20 people per game.  In addition, the law firm name and logo also now appears on the Clemente wall in right field. It was explained to me that two people from the law firm could participate in the “Big Leaguer for a Day” activities at PNC Park.  My law partner, Geoff Brown, and I were chosen as the two participants in this event.  I later found out that I was the oldest person on the field. In going to Pittsburgh, Geoff and I weren’t quite sure exactly what would happen once we got to PNC Park.  We arrived at the ballfield a little bit before 10 a.m.  Geoff and I were escorted to the Pirates visitor’s locker room by very friendly Pirates employees, and upon arriving in the locker room, we saw that our names and the other participant’s names were on their individual lockers.  Hanging in each locker was an official Pittsburgh Pirates jersey with the individual’s name on the back of the jersey, a Pirates baseball hat, shorts, batting gloves, shoes and a backpack, all of which we got to keep. When we walked into the locker room, we were greeted by Kent Tekulve, Grant Jackson and Omar Marino, all former Pittsburgh Pirates stars. Jackson and Tekulve, the winning pitcher and reliever in our last World Series championship in 1979, were the coaches of the team that Geoff and I were on. Geoff and I were placed on the white team (we had white jerseys), and there were a number of people placed on the black team (who had black jerseys).  We were then treated to a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, rolls, etc.  Then the fun began.  We dressed in the locker room, put on our new clothes and shoes, took our baseball glove with us, and were led onto the field.  We were actually on the real Pittsburgh Pirates baseball field - the field that we saw the Pirates perform on at all the games that we had been to over all these past years. We were split up into three groups.  One group took infield practice, one group outfield practice and the other group took batting practice.  Geoff and I decided that we first would shag fly balls in the outfield.  These weren’t the fly balls that I’d remembered from when I last played baseball as a teenager.  The balls were hit higher and longer than any balls I’d ever seen.  I had also not shagged a fly ball since I was a teenager.  I have played in softball leagues, but I had nothing to do with baseball other than passing with my children and grandchildren and throwing them baseballs to hit as they were participants in baseball leagues.  The balls were hit to us by a professional baseball group from Butler, Penn.  At first it was quite a daunting task for me.  I’m 68 years old, and I was concerned that if I misjudged one of these incredibly high fly balls and the ball hit me in the head, it’d probably kill me.  Nonetheless, I attempted to move under every single ball that was hit to me, and quite surprisingly, after remembering that you had to go back a few feet before you came in, was able to catch pretty much everything that was hit to me.  That doesn’t mean I wasn’t nervous about every single ball, I was, not only because of the fear of being injured, but also the fear of being embarrassed. The one big surprise for me though was that I could not throw the ball very well once I caught it.  I had passed baseballs with my grandson, Carson, just a couple years ago, and was throwing the ball hard, long and straight.  Within the last two years though, I had a serious bicycle accident in which I completely broke and separated my right shoulder.  At the time, the orthopedic surgeon that was treating me indicated that there would be no need for surgery since I wasn’t going to be a big league baseball player.  Little did I realize that I would no longer be able to throw a baseball for any distance or with much accuracy.  Surprisingly, I’ve thrown footballs in the last couple of years and the throwing motion of a football is quite different.  I have no difficulty at all in passing football with my children and grandchildren.  Baseball, though, is a completely different deal.  This was quite embarrassing to me because I remembered just a couple years earlier being able to put a lot of steam on the ball and throwing it for a quite a distance. We next took infield practice.  The infield practice was actually done on the warning track in the outfield, and the balls that were hit were not any sissy balls.  They were hit pretty hard and sometimes took crazy hops.  Nonetheless, Geoff was able to handle just about every single ball, and I did pretty well myself.  Once again though, I continued having issues with throwing the ball once I fielded it. The next step was batting practice.  Before the “Big Leaguer for a Day” event, I had planned on taking batting practice in a batting cage at a local facility.  Unfortunately, because I was extremely busy with work at the law firm, I was not able to do that.  I thought this would be a real problem inasmuch as I had only hit baseballs one time while at the beach at a batting cage over the last 50 years.  While I did okay then, I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to hit the ball during batting practice.  The good news was that the pitchers, who were also from the professional baseball school, threw the ball straight and not all that fast.  I think the fastest ball that we got was probably 50 miles per hour. I stepped into the batter’s box after choosing what I thought would be the perfect bat for me and began swinging the bat.  We each got 15 balls the first go around, and five later on.  I was quite surprised that I was able to hit almost every ball pitched to me in addition to being able to even knocking a number of balls into the outfield.  I was quite relieved to think that I might not embarrass myself when batting. We all took a break after everyone had a chance to bat and field some ground balls and catch some fly balls, and we met with our coaches.  The game then started.  We wore the white jerseys and were considered the home team, so the other team batted.  Initially, I chose to play in the outfield, but quickly realized that was a mistake because even if I happened to catch the ball, I wouldn’t be able to throw the ball very well to somebody if the runner tagged up.  I also would have difficulty throwing the ball if it was hit on the ground.  It worked out pretty well because the person that was playing first base had dropped a ball or two during the first inning and was eager to switch positions, so I moved to first base the second inning. My first at bat I hit a very hard line drive to the pitcher, who thankfully was with the baseball school and was able to knock the ball down.  I was thrown out, but at least the pitcher wasn’t injured.  I think if it would have been one of us, there might have been a problem.  I was also happy that I was able to run to first base without pulling a muscle.  That was another one of my fears.  As you get older and you’ve not done something for quite a while, there are any number of things that went through my mind that could be problematic, including muscle pulls. Another interesting feature of the game was that each time we were up to bat, our name and photograph appeared on the PNC Park scoreboard, our names were announced over the loud speaker and our college fight song was played.  It was pretty interesting. The game proceeded, and I even got a couple of hits. We went all the way up to theseventh inning, which was the designated number of innings we would play in the game.  My team actually had won the game 3-1.  The other team, however, pressed the coaches and our team to extend the game to nine innings.  We agreed. We proceeded with the next two innings, theeighth and ninth, and did fairly well until the ninth inning when our opposition scored two runs to tie the game at 3 apiece.  I happened to be the second batter up in the bottom of the ninth  inning.  I got on base with a single, and moved to second on a fielder’s choice.  With two outs and still being on second base, my partner was up to bat.  Geoff hit a hard ground ball between second and short, and I ran as hard as I possibly could.  I actually made it from second to home without collapsing and scored the winning run off Geoff’s hit.  Our team won 4-3. We celebrated and had pictures taken and had a great time.  The day was a blast.  I met many wonderful Pittsburgh people during the course of the day.  I was particularly impressed with the individual who was next in age to me, although he was still about six years younger, who owned the Pittsburgh Brewing Company.  I could tell that this guy had been a very serious athlete once upon a time.  I introduced myself, and sure enough, he not only was an athlete, but had played hockey at Notre Dame, the alma mater of both Geoff, my son, Jamie, my law partner, Chris Regan and three associates at the firm.  We hit it off right away.  It was also easy to meet and talk to the rest of the people on the team, but this man was my favorite, not only because of his personality, but also because he looked like he could still play baseball like a youngster, even in his early 60s, and he sure enough did. During the course of the day, our Pirates coaches would put stars on our hats if we did something good.  The stars each had an “s” in them, which was the star that Willie Stargell, who was a much beloved former Pirate, had instituted during the 1979 World Series campaign.  Geoff and I each ended up with 6 stars, and Geoff was truly the outstanding player of the game. At the end of the day, after many pictures were taken, we went back to the locker rooms where the Pirates organization had lunch, soft drinks, beer and massages ready for us.  The weather was great.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  It was fun to be a Pittsburgh Pirate and Big Leaguer for a Day.

I saw on the news that The Honorable James P. Mazzone placed a new sign on the door of one of the Ohio County Circuit Courtrooms. I previously wrote a blog on this very subject because I have been in and out of so many courtrooms in Ohio and West Virginia throughout the course of my career and have seen more and more judges endorsing these signs out of basic necessity. The parties that are having their cases heard before the Honorable Court should be given appropriate and dutiful attention to these very important matters and Judge Mazzone couldn’t have said it better when the news quoted him as saying: "A lot of blood was shed to ensure the rights that these courtrooms were built to protect and I feel that the least we can do is show respect by dressing appropriately." He also explained that the sign on the door is to save people the embarrassment of being lectured in front of the whole courtroom. So, readers, please remember if this was your matter being before the Court, you, too, would want the same considerations from the judge, the lawyers, their staff and the jurors.  Let’s be mindful and honor the legal proceedings that were put in place by our great United States of America!

Throughout the years, I’ve been told by tons of people they can’t tell Barley and Guinness apart. Even I sometimes can’t when they are standing side by side.  If you have ever come to the office and seen the boys you would understand.  Let me try to help you differentiate between the two. Barley is the older of the two boys. He is very laid back and hides more.  Barley loves the cooler temperatures and will lie in front of any air conditioning vent he can find.   In the winter, Barley will lie outside, belly down on a pile of snow.  When inside, lying down in the living room, you can see his breath. It’s always warm in our home, so if you can see Barley’s breath inside you know darn well that he’s a hot-blooded dog.  Barley has the most beautiful eyes for a dog. They are human looking. Barley is a little smaller and stockier than his brother, Guinness. Guinness, oh let me tell you about him.  Guinness is very upbeat and full of energy. He feels that everyone who walks through the door should be jumped on and kissed all over his or her face. He is overly friendly and loves everyone he meets.  Guinness is an ADHD dog; he loses his train of thought very easily, but when it comes to snuggling, he is one of the best. He is not as hot-blooded as his brother, Barley.  Guinness will also stand up and look out the doors and windows at the office; he loves looking outside. Guinness is a little taller and his hair is a little thinner and blonder than his brother. Both are very hard to tell apart when they are walking or running away from you together, or when they have their heads down.  Just the other day, the groomer asked me again, “Which is Barley and which is Guinness?”  The boys are only 14 months apart in age. They really don’t like to be away from each other and if they are, they let each other know how much brotherly love they have when they see each other again for the first time. It’s so amazing to watch. Barley and Guinness are two of the most loving dogs you would ever meet.  So if you stop by the office and see our two dogs that look alike, maybe this will help you tell them apart. Bark On, Bordas Dog Nation, Bark On.

Recently, the PA Superior Court, in Yocabet ( and Mecinnac) v. UPMC Presbyterian, et al. held that data produced to CMS and the PA DOH in connection with an inspection of defendant’s facility is not protected information under the state’s peer review protection statute, 63 P.S. Sec. 425.1-425.4 . Attorney – Client Privilege Yocabet and Mecinnac were husband and wife.  Mr. Yocabet was on defendant’s kidney transplant list and Ms. Mecinnac agreed to be tested to determine her eligibility to be a kidney donor for Mr. Yocabet.  Ms. Mecinnac tested positive for Hepatitis C, which under federal/state laws invalidates her candidacy as a donor.  Remarkably, despite several physicians and transplant review committee evaluations, all purportedly having reviewed Ms. Mecinnac’s lab work, approved the transplant.  The surgery occurred without complication.  Shortly after surgery, it was determined that Mr. Yocabet had received a diseased kidney and now developed Hepatitis C.  The treatment for Hepatitis C results in eventual kidney failure and death. CMS (Medicare) and DOH (Medicaid) performed an investigation in connection with these events in order to determine defendant’s compliance with the Medicare/Medicaid program.  CMS found violations, and defendant submitted a plan of correction to comply with the program’s rules and regulations.  CMS’ investigative report was made available to the public.  Plaintiffs sought to discover the information provided to CMS/PA DOH by defendant in connection with the investigation.  Defendant claimed peer review protection and refused to produce the requested information.  A special discovery master determined that the information was not protected because defendant was not conducting “peer review” during the CMS/PA DOH investigation.  The trial court affirmed and the appeal to the Superior Court followed. The Superior Court affirmed holding that CMS and the PA DOH are not health care providers, and therefore, did not conduct peer review during its investigation.  The court further reasoned that protecting the materials from discovery would not facilitate the purpose of the Peer Review Act, namely self-policing. Of interest, the court remanded the case back to the trial court to conduct an in-camera review of board meeting minutes in an effort to determine whether the peer review and/or attorney-client privilege applies.