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Alcon v. Spicer6/6/2005
ad not consulted or sought treatment from Dr. Aschenbrenner in connection with the accident or injuries similar to those claimed in the accident. Spicer subsequently issued a subpoena duces tecum to Dr. Aschenbrenner, demanding her appearance at a records deposition. Although Alcon provided Spicer with W-2 income withholding tax forms (W-2 forms) from her employment at King Soopers, she declined Spicer's request for her tax returns from the past ten years, asserting that they were irrelevant and confidential.
Alcon filed a motion to quash the subpoena and for protective orders for several categories of records sought by Spicer. Spicer brought a motion to compel production of those same documents. After a hearing, the trial court ordered Alcon to produce the complete records of Dr. Aschenbrenner, and provide releases for her pharmaceutical records and tax returns for the past ten years. The court surmised that the requested records were relevant in that they could lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, and that Alcon had waived the physician-patient privilege by putting her physical condition at issue.
In making its order, the court simply concluded: that the Plaintiff has injected her physical condition into the case. Therefore, she has waived her physician-patient privilege as to those conditions. Because the Court believes that the Defendant's requests for medical records from Dr. Aschenbrenner are relevant or may lead to the discovery of admissible evidence regarding these conditions, the Court will allow Dr. Aschenbrenner's records to be subpoenaed by the Defendant. The Court believes that counsel for the Defendant is entitled to review those records in order to adequately prepare a defense to the claims asserted by the Plaintiff. For the same reasons, the Plaintiff is ordered to provide releases for the past ten years for pharmaceutical information, for medical records related to her employment, and for workers' compensation records.
As to the request for the tax returns, the court held that "because the Plaintiff has asserted a claim for lost income and lost earning capacity, her past earning history is relevant and she shall provide a release for her tax returns and unemployment records for the past ten years." Following the court's ruling, Alcon turned over the results of a routine bone scan and a 1994 telephone message from Dr. Aschenbrenner's files. The message was from Alcon and read " had a car accident 12/9/94. Her shoulder and neck are hurting her. Can you give her some [medication]."
Pursuant to C.A.R. 21, Alcon petitioned this court for review of the trial court's ruling. We issued a rule to show cause why the full medical records of Dr. Aschenbrenner, ten years of pharmaceutical records, and ten years of Alcon's tax returns should be produced. Because we find that the trial court's order compelling production was overbroad, we now make the rule absolute.
III. Analysis
A. Medical Records
We begin by examining the interaction between the rules of discovery and privilege, and trace the development of the scope of the waiver of the physician-patient privilege in the context of personal injury lawsuits.
C.R.C.P. 26(b)(1) outlines the general scope of discovery. It provides that "parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense of a party." (emphasis added). The purposes of discovery include "the elimination of surprise at trial, the discovery of relevant evidence, the simplification of the issues, and the promotion of expeditious settlement of cases." Bond v. Dist. Court, 682 P.2d 33, 40 (Colo.1984). Although discovery rules are constr
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