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Mermer v. Med. Correspondence Serv.11/22/1996
GLASSER, Judge.
This case is before the court on appeal from a judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. Plaintiffs-appellants, Sally A. Mermer and Dennis Grimshaw, appeal a decision which granted defendants-appellees, Medical Correspondence Services ("Med.Cor"), Smart Corp., and Hospital Correspondence Services ("HCC"), summary judgment on the fourth count of appellants' complaint, which asserted that appellees charged excessive and unconscionable fees in violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act ("OCSPA"), R.C. 1345.01 et seq. For the reasons discussed below, we reverse the judgment of the trial court.
The undisputed facts of this case are as follows. Appellants hired the law firm of Williams, Jilek, Lafferty & Gallagher Co., L.P.A. ("WJLG") to represent them in their personal injury claims. With the express, written authorization of their clients, WJLG requested relevant medical records from various hospitals' records departments in order to facilitate appellants' claims. Each request was forwarded to one of the appellees, who retrieved and copied the records, and sent them to WJLG along with an invoice showing the fees charged for the services. As a general practice, upon receipt of such an invoice, WJLG would pay the balance shown on the bill, and later deduct the costs of the copy service from the amount received on the claim. Under the retainer agreement between WJLG and appellants, appellants were still responsible to reimburse WJLG for the costs of the copy service in the event appellants did not recover under their personal injury claims. The charges about which appellants complain are as follows. Sally Mermer's medical records from Flower Memorial Hospital were copied by appellee Smart Corp. and included:
March 2, 1993 15 pages $ 33.64 May 12, 1993 318 pages $269.56 July 22, 1993 3 pages $ 22.72 Nov. 10, 1993 1 page $ 7.00
Further, Sally Mermer's medical records from Southwest General Hospital were copied by appellee Med.Cor, whose invoices included:
April 21, 1993 9 pages $31.80 July 2, 1993 2 pages $23.29
Dennis Grimshaw's medical records from St. Vincent's Medical Center were copied by appellee Med.Cor and invoiced as follows:
Feb. 9, 1991 9 pages $31.80 July 2, 1993 2 pages $23.29
In addition, Dennis Grimshaw's medical records from the Medical College of Ohio were copied by appellee HCC and invoiced in the following manner:
April 9, 1992 2 pages $16.43 August 5, 1992 2 pages $16.32
Sally Mermer's personal injury case is still pending; thus, she has yet to pay WJLG for the costs of the copy service. Dennis Grimshaw's personal injury case has been concluded, and WJLG has deducted the costs of the copy service from his settlement.
Originally, the complaint contained four claims. Counts I and III were dismissed on June 20, 1994. On October 12, 1995, the trial court granted appellees' motion for summary judgment on Count II (breach of contract) and Count IV (violation of the OCSPA). Appellants now appeal the granting of summary judgment on Count IV only, raising the following assignment of error:
"The trial court erred, as a matter of law, in granting the appellees' motion for summary judgment, because the obtaining of copies of medical records for use in a personal injury lawsuit is a consumer transaction within the meaning of the Consumer Sales Practice Act, R.C. 1345.01(A)."
In reviewing a ruling on a summary judgment motion, this court must apply the same standard as does the trial court. Lorain Natl. Baltic v. Saratoga Apts. (1989), 61 Ohio App.3d 127, 129, 572 N.E.2d 198,
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