Before he committed suicide in September 2012, twenty-two-year old Christopher Landry for several years had been under the care of appellant Crit Cooksey, a psychiatrist. In August 2012, Dr. Cooksey prescribed both Seroquel and Cymbalta for Christopher, two drugs that contain a “black box warning” from the Food and Drug Administration which warns of an increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in young adults and recommends that medical professionals prescribing the drugs monitor patients for worsening or emergent suicidal thoughts and behavior. Following Christopher’s death, his parents, appellees Lisa and Michael Landry,1 began investigating a potential medical malpractice, wrongful death, and survival action against Dr. Cooksey and made multiple requests for copies of Christopher’s psychiatric records. Dr. Cooksey on each occasion refused to produce the records, claiming they are protected from disclosure by Georgia’s psychiatrist-patient privilege. See OCGA § 24-5-501 a.2
Appellees filed a complaint seeking a permanent injunction directing Dr. Cooksey to turn over all of Christopher’s psychiatric records. Appellees argued that without the records they would be unable to investigate whether a cause of action exists against Dr. Cooksey, and they would be unable to gain relevant and necessary information upon which to base the expert affidavit required to initiate a medical malpractice claim. See OCGA § 9-11-9.1. The trial court, without reviewing Dr. Cooksey’s files, concluded that equity supported appellees’ position and issued an injunction directing Dr. Cooksey to produce to appellees “all records pertaining to the medical treatment and history of Christopher Michael Landry.”3 Dr. Cooksey appealed from the trial court’s order and filed a motion for an emergency stay which this Court granted. Having reviewed the record and applicable law, we conclude that the trial court erred to the extent it exercised its equitable powers to order the production of information protected from disclosure by Georgia law. Accordingly, we affirm the order of the trial court in part and reverse and remand to the trial court in part for further action consistent with this opinion.
