PATRICIA DANNEMANN, PETITIONER,
v.
SHANDS TEACHING HOSPITAL AND CLINICS, INC.; THOMAS M. BEAVER, M.D.; SIGURD J. NORMANN, M.D.; DIANA CARDONA, M.D.; AND UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA BOARD OF TRUSTEES, RESPONDENTS
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Patricia Dannemann sought certiorari review of a trial court order allowing pre-deposition conferences between nonparty physicians and defense counsel regarding her husband's medical records in a medical malpractice case. The Florida District Court of Appeal quashed the order, holding that Florida's patient confidentiality statute prohibits such disclosures absent specific statutory exceptions.
The court granted the petition and quashed the trial court's order, holding that Florida Statutes section 456.057(6) prohibits nonparty physicians from disclosing a decedent's medical condition to defense counsel except in four specific statutory circumstances not present here, and rejecting constitutional challenges to this statute.
[1] A nonparty physician is prohibited from disclosing a decedent's medical condition and history to counsel hired by the defendant's insurer to represent the physician at a…
[2] The physician-patient confidentiality statute creates an explicit but limited scheme for the disclosure of personal medical information.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the clear, unambiguous language of the patient confidentiality statute, section 456.057(6), Florida Statutes (2005), presently numbered as subsection (8), prohibits any nonparty physician from disclosing the decedent's medical condition and history to the counsel hired by the defendant's insurer to represent the physician at a deposition”
Establishes the core holding that nonparty physicians cannot discuss patient medical information with defense counsel
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePatricia Dannemann filed suit against Shands Teaching Hospital alleging negligence caused her husband's death. The trial court issued an order permitt…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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On Motion for Rehearing and Clarification
Upon consideration of the Motion for Rehearing and Clarification, our opinion of March 13, 2009, is withdrawn and the following substituted therefor.
Patricia Dannemann, the plaintiff in a suit which alleges that employees of Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc. (Shands) negligently caused the death of her husband, seeks certiorari review of an order denying her motion to prohibit pre-deposition conferences between nonparty physicians, Dr. Beaver, Dr. Normana, and Dr. Cardona, employed by the University of Florida Board of Trustees (UFBOT), also a nonparty, and the counsel hired by the University of Florida Self Insurance Program (SIP), to represent these physicians at their depositions. SIP insures and defends both Shands and the University. The order would allow the physician witnesses to discuss the decedent’s medical condition. Because this case is controlled by our previous decision in Hannon v. Roper, 945 So.2d 534 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), and the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Acosta v. Richter, 671 So.2d 149 (Fla.1996), we grant the petition and quash the trial court’s order.
Hannon also involved a suit against Shands for alleged medical malpractice causing the death of Hannon’s son. This court held in Hannon that the clear, unambiguous language of the patient confidentiality statute, section 456.057(6), Florida Statutes (2005), presently numbered as subsection (8), prohibits any nonparty physician from disclosing the decedent’s medical condition and history to the counsel hired by the defendant’s insurer to represent the physician at a deposition. We explained that there are only four circumstances that would allow a health care practitioner or provider to discuss a pa*248tient’s medical condition and treatment, Hannon, 945 So.2d at 536, and none of those circumstances are present in this case. The legislature created the physician-patient privilege by statute “where none existed before, and [provided] an explicit but limited scheme for the disclosure of personal medical information.” Acosta, 671 So.2d at 154. Though respondents believe the statute is ill-conceived, that is a matter for the legislature to address.
Respondents raise the same constitutional issues that were raised in Hannon. Specifically, respondents contend that our application of section 456.057 in Hannon violates the physicians’ constitutional right to counsel protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment and their rights under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Amend. I, U.S. Const.; Amend. XIV § 1, U.S. Const. Respondents urge us to address these issues, arguing that they were unresolved in Han-non. Certainly, “no decision is authority on any question not raised and considered .... ” State ex rel. Helseth v. Du Bose, 99 Fla. 812, 128 So. 4, 6 (1930). Even though this court in Hannon did not discuss the constitutional issues raised there, the court’s silence supports the necessary conclusion that those issues were considered and rejected. In Hannon, the court granted relief based upon section 456.057(6), which it could not have done had it been persuaded the statute was constitutionally infirm. We are bound by Hannon under the doctrine of stare deci-sis. N. Fla. Women’s Health and Counseling Servs., Inc. v. State, 866 So.2d 612, 637 (Fla.2003) (“The doctrine of stare deci-sis, or the obligation of the court to abide by its own precedent, is grounded on the need for stability in the law and has been a fundamental tenet of Anglo-American jurisprudence for centuries.”). Further, we note that in Acosta the Supreme Court rejected the argument thát the limitations on disclosure in section 455.241(2), Florida Statutes (1993), are “somehow violative of a defendant physician’s First Amendment rights to free speech.” Acosta, 671 So.2d at 156.
The petition for writ of certiorari is GRANTED and the trial court’s order is QUASHED.
PADOVANO, AND CLARK, JJ., concur.
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Ramsey Hasan v. Lanny Garvar, D.M.D., 108 So. 3d 570 (Fla. 2012)…the basis that it expressly and directly conflicts with the decision of this Court in Acosta v. Richter, 671 So. 2d 149 (Fla.1996), as well as decisions of the First District Court of Appeal in Dannemann v. Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics, Inc., 14 So. 3d 246 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) cert. denied, — U.S. -, 130 S.Ct. 2061, 176 L.Ed.2d 429 (2010), and Hannon v. Roper, 945 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), on a question of law. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. FACTS Ramsey Hasan filed a…1 / 2
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LEE Mem'l Health Sys. v. Smith, 40 So. 3d 106 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…that communications between LMHS and its employee physicians are not “disclosures” under the statute. Similarly, the Smiths’ reliance on Hannon v. Roper, 945 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), and Dannemann v. Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics, Inc., 14 So. 3d 246 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009), is misplaced. The physicians in those cases were not employees of the defendant hospitals, and the appellate court declined to find an exception to section 456.057(8)’s physician-patient privilege for employees of an entity who…
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Ramsey Hasan v. Lanny Garvar, D.M.D., 34 So. 3d 785 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…49 (Fla.1996); Keel v. Psychiatric Inst. of Delray, Inc., 668 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Kirkland (cited above); Lemieux v. Tandem Health Care of Fla., Inc., 862 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Dannemann v. Shands Teaching Hosp. & Clinics, Inc., 14 So. 3d 246 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009); and Hannon (cited above). In Acosta, Keel, Kirkland, and Lemieux, the orders in error would have allowed the plaintiff’s nonparty treating physicians to have ex parte conferences with the defendants’ attorneys. Here, the order a…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. DuBose, 99 Fla. 812 (Fla. 1930)
- Rudolph Acosta, M.D. v. Richter, 671 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 1996)
- N. Fla. Women's Health & Counseling Servs., Inc. v. State, 866 So. 2d 612 (Fla. 2003)
- Hannon v. Steven Roper, M.D., 945 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)