Limbaugh v. State

Medical Records Confidentiality

Limbaugh v. State, No. 4D03-4973 (Fla. Dist. Ct.
App. Oct 6., 2004)

Police officers received statements from two individuals
that they had sold a patient supplies of Hydrocodone and Oxycontin in large
quantities over the course of many years. Based on these statements, the police
reviewed records of the prescriptions received by the patient from a local
pharmacy, which displayed that the patient had received several prescriptions
of this medication by four different doctors. The police officers then obtained
search warrants for various records, including medical records, medical questionnaires
and medical insurance forms, to determine if the patient violated Florida’s “doctor
shopping” statute.
The issuance of the search warrants was based on a finding by a judge that
the medical records to be seized were relevant to the alleged commission of
a felony being investigated by the State. The State then notified the patient
of the seizure. The patient filed a petition asking the circuit court to quash
the search warrants and bar the State from again seizing his medical records
based on what he believed to be bad faith in seeking the warrants without prior
notice to him. The circuit court denied the patient’s petition and the patient
then filed an appeal with the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida, which
rejected the patient’s argument and held that the constitutional right of privacy
in medical records is not implicated by the state’s seizure and review of medical
records under a valid search warrant without prior notice or hearing.