When you file a personal injury case, your health becomes the center of the case. Usually, medical records would be personal, confidential information, and doctors would not be allowed to turn them over. However, in a lawsuit, things are different.
In suing for a personal injury, you essentially give permission to the defendant to obtain records about this injury. On top of that, fairness might require them to get access to records from before and after the injury for sake of comparison. Whether the “other side” of your case is an individual defendant, your employer, a Workers’ Comp insurance carrier, or another insurance company, they are allowed access to your medical records and history.
For help with an injury case, call the Pennsylvania workers compensation lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.
Aren’t Medical Records Confidential?
Generally speaking, when you go to a doctor for medical treatment, they have to keep your records confidential. In a lawsuit, this confidentiality gets waived.
You may be familiar with laws like HIPAA – the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This ensures proper confidentiality and storage of medical records and only allows disclosure by a care provider for certain exceptions. One of those is when a court orders them to turn over records, which is likely to happen in your case.
On top of this, you usually have “doctor-patient confidentiality.” This is the general tradition and understanding in society that when we talk to a doctor about our health, that information should be kept private. There are also state law protections for confidentiality.
This is further bolstered by “doctor-patient privilege,” a legal right you have to block your doctor from testifying about you if you don’t want them to. A doctor or care provider can also assert this privilege on your behalf.
However, all of this goes away when you file a lawsuit.
How Lawsuits Affect Medical Record Confidentiality
If your injuries are part of the case, it is treated as a waiver to your right to keep your medical records private. It’s simply such an important part of the case that it would be basically impossible to proceed fairly without giving the other side a right to see your medical records.
Plus, medical records are one of the best pieces of evidence we have. Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers use medical records all the time to help prove our clients’ injuries, and it would be hard to proceed with your case without us actually using those records first.
With evidence, we can’t use anything without giving the other side a fair chance to review it, too.
Can Insurance Companies Demand My Medical Records?
When you deal with insurance before filing your case in court, there aren’t as many formal rules as there are in court. They don’t necessarily have the power to order you to turn over documents like a court does, but if you don’t give them the documents they request, they won’t pay your claim.
That means that if you want your insurance claim paid, you basically have to give them all of the paperwork and evidence they ask for. It might be awkward or embarrassing to share your medical records, but it is, again, one of the strongest pieces of evidence you have to prove your injuries and get the damages you need.
Can Insurance Companies Demand Past Medical Records?
When you file an injury claim, you are claiming damages for the harm you faced. In order to gauge that harm, we often need a starting point to compare back to. This might make your past medical records important to the case, too, giving the defense a reasonable claim that they should get access to them.
Prior conditions often set the baseline for your injuries. This requires evidence of what your health was like before the accident, what your income level was, and what your day-to-day activities were like. Only then can we show the jury how much this injury affected you, by showing your post-injury status: what disabilities you received, how much income you lost, and how your daily activities were affected.
This means we will need past medical records showing any preexisting conditions or lack thereof. If you had a broken leg before the accident or you were already paralyzed from the waist down, that will make a big difference as to what damages you can claim from this later injury.
Ultimately, fairness may require you to disclose past records so the court and the defense can get a full picture of your health.
Do I Have to Turn Over Mental Health and Psych Records?
Often, pain and suffering, PTSD symptoms, and other mental/emotional effects of the injury will be part of your case, too. Just like with physical health records, mental health records may be needed to prove your case.
In some cases, psychological records might not be relevant. Even if a judge rules we need to turn over the records, we might be able to object to the defendant or insurance companies using those records at trial.
For example, a past battle with addiction or depression should not be used to bias the jury against you, and it might have no bearing on this injury case whatsoever.
What if I Don’t Want to Turn Over My Medical Records?
Not every fact about your health is necessarily relevant to your case. We may be able to limit what records are disclosed. For example, the insurance company or defendants might not need information looking back 20 years, and recent medical records from just before the accident might be enough for them.
In some cases, we may also be able to provide the insurance company with enough information to encourage a settlement, preventing your medical records or medical history from becoming public at trial.
Our attorneys can always work with what you are comfortable with, though holding back from full disclosure might ultimately hurt your case.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in Pennsylvania for Help Today
For a free review of your potential claim, call Cardamone Law’s Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
