Med. Mut. of Ohio v. Schlotterer

Moyer, CJ.

I

{¶ 1} The physician-patient privilege generally protects medical records from disclosure, subject to certain limited exceptions. This case asks us to determine whether the privilege prevents discovery of medical records by an insurance company in a civil fraud action against a physician when the patients have given broad consent to release their records to their insurer. We hold that a patient’s consent to the release of medical information is valid, and waives the physician-patient privilege, if the release is voluntary, express, and reasonably specific in identifying to whom the…