Marsh v. County of San Diego

HIPAA: DISCOVERY

Marsh v. County of San Diego, No. 05CV1568 JLS (AJB) (S.D.Cal. Oct. 15, 2007)

The federal Court for the Southern District of California granted a motion by an individual convicted of child abuse murder to compel the discovery of a children’s hospital’s medical records pertaining to three children who were admitted to the hospital where they subsequently died and were held for autopsy. The court held that the public interest in disclosure of the medical records outweighed the families’ privacy interests under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") and state medical confidentiality laws. The convicted murderer sought the disclosure of the medical records in order to demonstrate a modus operandi on behalf of the hospital of falsely claiming child abuse murder when the manner of death was accidental.

Each of the children was admitted to the hospital with injuries that were indicative of child abuse. Following each child’s death, an autopsy was performed at the hospital which resulted in criminal murder charges against the parents. Second autopsies of each child revealed another cause of death (i.e., accident or congenital defect). Accordingly, in each instance, criminal charges against the parents were dropped.

The court concluded that there was sufficient evidence that impropriety may have occurred, thereby demonstrating that a significant public interest exists that outweighs the individual privacy rights of the three deceased children and their families in keeping such records confidential. The court noted that "HIPAA and [the state medical confidentiality law] do not present a bar to the release of these records, since such records can be disclosed if compelled by a court order and the use of such records is limited by the protective order in this case."