Harris v. Tenet Healthsystem Spalding Inc.

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the medical malpractice defendants' joint motion for a qualified protective order seeking permission to conduct ex parte interviews with the health care providers who treated the decedent.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

After the death of their mother, Destinie Harris and David Mitchell, as the next of kin, and Harris, as the administratrix of the estate collectively, “plaintiffs”, filed a medical malpractice suit against the following defendants: Tenet Healthsystem Spalding, Inc. d/b/a Spalding Regional Medical Center; Griffin Clinic; South Atlanta Lung and Sleep Clinic, Inc.; Sanjeeva Rao, M.D.; Appaswamy Gowda, M.D., P.C.; Hari G. Madichetty, M.D., P.C.; and Hari Madichetty, M.D. collectively, “defendants”. To aid in their discovery, the defendants filed a joint motion for a qualified protective order under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 “HIPAA”, requesting that they be permitted to conduct ex parte interviews with the health care providers who treated the decedent, Mary Mitchell. After oral argument, the trial court granted the defendants’ motion. We now review this matter on an interlocutory basis to evaluate the following enumerations of error asserted by the plaintiffs: 1 that the trial court’s qualified protective order is overly broad; 2 that the trial court’s qualified protective order fails to adequately protect plaintiff’s right to access and amend personal health information; and, 3 that the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion for a qualified protective order because the defendants did not make a showing of good cause as required by OCGA § 9-11-26 c. Because we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm.

Factual Background

Harris v. Tenet Healthsystem Spalding Inc.

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the medical malpractice defendants' joint motion for a qualified protective order seeking permission to conduct ex parte interviews with the health care providers who treated the decedent.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report