Schmidt et al v. Bellevue Medical Center L.L.C.

Filing 133

ORDER - Defendants' Motion for Qualified Protective Order and to Compel Compliance with Subpoena (filing #126 ) is granted. Defendants shall forward a proposed qualified protective order to the undersigned at [e-mail] by or before February 11, 2015, in Word or WordPerfect format. Defendants shall forward a copy of this Order, along with the signed qualified protective order, to DHHS. DHHS is directed to comply with the subpoena as issued, subject to the qualified protective order soon to be entered in this case. Ordered by Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett. (GJG)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
DORAN SCHMIDT, Individually, and
SAGE SCHMIDT, a minor, by and
through Doran Schmidt, her natural
mother and next friend,
Plaintiffs,
V.
HEATHER RAMSEY, APRN-CNM,
THE MIDWIVES PLACE LLC, and
BELLEVUE MEDICAL CENTER
L.L.C.,
Defendants.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

8:13CV143

ORDER

Sage Schmidt (“Sage”) and her mother, Doran Schmidt (“Doran”) (collectively
“Plaintiffs”) brought suit alleging that Defendants are liable for negligence and medical
malpractice allegedly committed when Sage was born. (Filing 3.)
In the course of discovery, Defendants served a subpoena on the Nebraska Department
of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) requesting production of the following:
Any and all records and all medical records (including billing records and
itemized statements for services rendered), correspondence to or from the
patient or the patient’s physicians, guardians, representatives, attorneys and
insurers, and all writings without exception regarding the care, treatment,
testing and examinations, specifically including Physician Statements of Life
Limiting Illness, Plans of Treatment, Home Health Certification and/or Plans
of Care, and Long Term Care Professional Medical Information or
Declarations of Need signed by any physician for or on behalf of Sage L.
Schmidt.
(Filing 127-1.) Although Plaintiffs did not object to the subpoena, DHHS objected pursuant
to Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(d)(2)(B), asserting that the information requested contains privileged
and/or other matter which is protected by federal and state laws. (Filing 127-2.)

Due to this objection, the parties attempted to resolve issues of privilege and
confidentiality by providing DHHS with an Authorization for Disclosure of Protected
Information (“Authorization”) signed by Doran. DHHS reviewed the Authorization, but
concluded it was not sufficiently completed to allow it to release Sage’s records. In
particular, DHHS stated that the sections of the Authorization indicating to whom the
information was to be released, the reason for disclosure, and the specific information to be
disclosed needed to be completed. DHHS informed defense counsel that once the
Authorization was fully completed, it would be in a position to release the records, without
re-issuance of the subpoena. (Filing 127-3.)
Subsequently, defense counsel contacted counsel for Plaintiffs in an effort to obtain
a proper Authorization. When those efforts failed, Defendants filed the instant motion,
requesting issuance of a qualified protective order and that DHHS be compelled to comply
with the subpoena. Plaintiffs responded to Defendants’ motion by stating that they would
provide Defendants with a new Authorization. To date, however, Plaintiffs have not done
so. DHHS has not responded to Defendants’ motion.
The subpoena requests production of medical and billing records releated to the care
of Plaintiffs. It does not appear that Defendants object to the relevance of the documents or
the scope of the subpoena. The Court finds that these records are clearly relevant to the
claims and defenses in this action and should be produced as requested.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Qualified Protective Order and to
Compel Compliance with Subpoena (filing 126) is granted. Defendants shall forward a
proposed qualified protective order to the undersigned at [e-mail] by or
before February 11, 2015, in Word or WordPerfect format. Defendants shall forward a copy
of this Order, along with the signed qualified protective order, to DHHS. DHHS is directed
to comply with the subpoena as issued, subject to the qualified protective order soon to be
entered in this case.

2

DATED February 4, 2015.
BY THE COURT:
S/ F.A. Gossett
United States Magistrate Judge

3