Court Rules Mental Health Records Not Discoverable: The Appellate Court of Illinois First District Third Division (“Illinois Appellate Court”) stated in its May 10, 2023 opinion: “Dr. Rao practices at a clinic that specialized in lung issues. Plaintiff was there presumably seeking treatment for lung
issues. Nowhere in the 18-count complaint do the allegations even remotely touch upon any mental health conditions, and we fail to see how Ursitti’s purported depression and anxiety would impact a failure to diagnose lung cancer. As a result, we agree with plaintiff and find that, based on the record as it stands at this juncture, the court erred in ordering plaintiff to produce the unredacted medical records and in finding that defendants could testify regarding the records.”
“Here, plaintiff’s claims do not concern Ursitti’s mental health. Plaintiff’s claims are solely based on defendants’ failure to timely diagnose Ursitti’s lung cancer by, inter alia, failing to order chest X-rays and CT scans. Because plaintiff’s claims do not put Ursitti’s mental condition “at issue,” defendants are not permitted to disclose or testify to Ursitti’s mental health records … In essence, defendants may not put Ursitti’s mental health “at issue” where plaintiff’s claims do not do so. Any “unfairness” that would result to defendants by denying them access to Ursitti’s mental health records, must give way to the privilege created by the Act.”
Fundamental Fairness Exception
The Illinois Appellate Court further stated: “We find that the circumstances presented in this case do not present the “truly extraordinary circumstances” necessary to apply the fundamental fairness exception to the privileges of the Act. There is no indication in the record that plaintiff is attempting to “exploit or subvert the legal process” or that plaintiff is using the protections of the Act as a sword, rather than a shield, to prevent the defendants’ discovery of otherwise admissible evidence that has the potential to “fully negate” the claim the plaintiff asserted against the defendants. Despite defendants’ assertion to the contrary, this finding would not prevent Dr. Rao from reviewing any of his own treatment records but would only prevent Dr. Rao from reviewing and testifying to those records related to Ursitti’s
mental health treatment. Accordingly, we find that the fundamental fairness exception does not apply in this case.”
The Illinois Appellate Court held: “Defendants have not made the necessary showing to bring these records within the narrow exceptions provided in either section 10(a)(2) or 10(a)(3) of the Act. This ruling is without prejudice. If defendant can show he was actually treating Ursitti for her mental health issues, and/or that somehow her mental health issues precluded him from ordering tests for lung cancer, then he may attempt to assert the exception to the privilege. There has been no showing of this to date.”
Source MacKenna v. Pantano, 2023 IL App (1st) 210486.
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