Ranft v. Lyons

This appeal from a non-final order raises three important issues relating to pretrial discovery in civil actions. The first issue concerns the scope of the physician/patient privilege and its applicability to medical records of a defendant sued for compensatory and punitive damages because of a drunk-driving accident when those records relate to the defendant's use or abuse of alcohol. The trial court held that the physician/ patient privilege prevented the Ranfts from having access to the records. We disagree and reverse.

The second issue is related to the first and concerns whether a…