The South Carolina Supreme Court opened the door for the release of disciplinary records of a Hilton Head Island doctor, ruling Monday that an administrative judge erred by closing a hearing without giving a reason.

The (Hilton Head) Island Packet filed the lawsuit after it was unable to get the disciplinary records of Dr. James Johnston, who has been barred from practicing medicine until he completes an alcohol-abuse treatment program. Several media organizations, including The Associated Press, filed briefs in support of the newspaper in the suit.

“This is a victory for the public, as well as for The Island Packet,” newspaper attorney Jay Bender said.

Bender is a Columbia attorney who specializes in media law and First Amendment issues. Among his clients are The State newspaper and the South Carolina Press Association. The State is a member of the press association.

Johnston was disciplined several times by the state medical board while he was a cardiologist at the Hilton Head Regional Medical Center.

On July 31, 2001, the medical board issued its first order of temporary suspension against Johnston. The board found that the doctor had been arrested several times since 1996 on charges including driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.

But the administrative law court superseded the suspension, saying the board had not presented sufficient evidence to prove Johnston had a substance-abuse problem.

The medical board issued a second opinion one month later, requiring Johnston to be evaluated to determine whether he would be a danger to the public if he continued to practice medicine. The administrative court later superseded that opinion and ordered that all records be sealed.

On May 24, 2004, the board placed Johnston under temporary suspension again after it received information that he was treating a patient in the emergency room at Hilton Head Medical Center while impaired.

During a closed hearing in October, the administrative court ordered him to stop practicing.

The Island Packet wrote the administrative court, asking that the paper be given the opportunity to attend hearings concerning Johnston and to object to such hearings being closed. The court did not respond.

In the ruling issued Monday, the justices said the administrative court must issue an order stating why hearings should be closed.

Monday’s ruling likely won’t affect the case of West Columbia alternative-medicine physician James Shortt, whose license was temporarily suspended in April, said his lawyer, Ward Bradley.

“That was our impression from the very beginning — you can’t appeal a temporary suspension,” Bradley said Monday.

Bradley said his client has no plans to appeal the state medical board’s decision to the administrative law court. He said Shortt is waiting for the board to schedule a full hearing on the matter.

Attorney Richard Gergel, who represents the families of two patients who died while under Shortt’s care, said Monday’s ruling is important because it allows the medical board to “effectively regulate the medical profession.”

Gergel applauded the part of the ruling setting standards for closing administrative law court hearings, noting, “The best thing we can do for our system is to destroy this culture of secrecy.”

But Bradley said the ruling likely wouldn’t have affected the closing of a hearing in his client’s case, explaining that the judge then made findings on the record why the hearing should be closed.

Staff writer Rick Brundrett contributed to this report.