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NEW PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT RULING IN CASE REGARDING PRIVACY OF CONFIDENTIAL PATIENT INFORMATION IN MEDICAL DISCIPLINARY BOARD PROCEEDINGS

August 20, 2019

In a case of first impression, BLF Shareholder A. Richard Feldman successfully argued that the Commonwealth Court lacked jurisdiction to enforce subpoenas obtained by a physician in a medical disciplinary board proceeding.  The subpoenas were directed at a prior patient’s medical records in the possession of the patient’s other mental health care providers.  The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania concluded that the Commonwealth Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the petition to enforce the subpoenas, because this was not an action by or against the Commonwealth, and the statute under which the subpoenas were issued does not give private parties the right to apply to Commonwealth Court for subpoena enforcement.  In re: Petition for Enforcement of Subpoenas Issued by the Hearing Examiner in a Proceeding Before the Board of Medicine (Pa. Supreme Court 2019).

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A. Richard Feldman