Ex Parte Alapati

Dr. Subba R. Alapati, the defendant in an action pending in the Madison Circuit Court, petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus directing Judge E. Dwight Faye, Jr., to vacate his March 27, 2001, protective order. That order provides that the plaintiff, the Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville doing business as Huntsville Hospital (hereinafter referred to as "the Hospital"), is not required to answer interrogatories or to produce documents relating to agreements it has entered into with physicians other than Dr. Alapati under its medical staff development assistance program. The…