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Thursday, June 22, 2006

Law - Cincinnati judge orders Planned Parenthood to turn over records

The Cinncinati Enquirer reports today:

A judge ordered the Cincinnati Planned Parenthood Clinic on Wednesday to turn over all records for abortion patients under 18 to the lawyers for the family of a teen who had an abortion at the clinic.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker's decision is believed to be only the second time a Planned Parenthood clinic has been ordered to make records available, and the first time during a civil case.

Attorney Brian Hurley, who represents the family, said the information is needed to determine whether the abortion given to his client without parental consent is an isolated issue or a pattern of activity. He said the patients' names will be blacked out on their records.

Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region will appeal, said Becki Brenner, the clinic's president and CEO. That likely means the documents won't be released until the appeals process is complete.

Appeals could take years.

Even if the order is upheld, that doesn't mean the floodgates will open and medical records will be readily available, experts say.

"We're very concerned about the exposure of private medical information," Brenner said. "Anyone that has private medical information should be fearful." Medical information should not be subject to review by outside parties, she added.

Dinkelacker wrote in his order that the plaintiff's needs outweighed the patients' rights to privacy.

Joy Pritts, director of the Center of Medical Record Rights and Privacy at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, said medical records are often sought in lawsuits.

In malpractice cases, she said, attorneys seek records of patients with similar treatment or conditions to show pattern of conduct. "Sometimes they get them, but oftentimes don't," Pritts said.

It's disturbing, Pritts said.

"The patients here have nothing to do with the lawsuit and it's their identity that is at risk," Pritts said. She pointed out even with the names blacked out it's difficult to block identifiable information.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Scott Greenwood called the ruling outrageous. "This is clearly an overbroad discovery order," he said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 22, 2006 08:22 AM
Posted to General Law Related