ALVISTA HEALTHCARE CENTER, INC. v. Miller

Phipps, Judge.

Mary Miller brought this wrongful death action against Alvista Healthcare Center, Inc., the owner and operator of the nursing care facility in which Miller’s husband lived at the time of his death. Before bringing suit, Miller asked Alvista to provide her with copies of her deceased husband’s medical records. Alvista refused, based on its determination that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) 1 and the HIPAA privacy regulations promulgated thereunder 2 (collectively referred to as the “privacy rule”) deny it the authority to provide Miller…