W. Va. Dept. of Health and Human Resources/Behavioral Health v. E.H.

In this proceeding, Legal Aid sought to force DHHR to continue to allow Legal Aid to have complete access to patient records, without patient consent, at the Bateman and Sharpe psychiatric facilities. Before this Court, DHHR argued that it was violating federal law, specifically HIPAA, when it previously authorized Legal Aid' to have complete access to patient "records without the consent of the patients. The circuit court and majority opinion disagreed with DHHR. The circuit court found that Legal Aid did not need patient consent to have unfettered access to patient records, because Legal…