Medical Records: No Need To Fight Subpoena Or Search Warrant, Court Says
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
June 1997
Quick Summary: When faced with a subpoena or a search warrant for a patient’s medical records, a healthcare professional or facility has no obligation but to comply.
Medical confidentiality does not impose a duty upon a healthcare professional or facility to go to court to contest the legal appropriateness of a subpoena or search warrant for a patient’s records, according to the Court of Appeals of Arizona. Linch vs. Medical Centers, 925 P. 2d 686 (Ariz. App., 1996).