Cal.1: Dr had no REP in patient records from a database search of prescription history

Under California law a doctor has standing in the medical records of patients [same with lawyers and client files]. The Medical Board did a controlled substances prescription database search to see what the doctor had been prescribing to see if he was overprescribing controlled substances. The search did not violate any right of privacy or the patients’ reasonable expectation of privacy. Medical Bd. of Cal. v. Chiarottino, 225 Cal. App. 4th 623 (1st Dist. April 15, 2014):

For purposes of our decision here, we assume patients have a reasonable expectation that their prescription records will not be disclosed to persons who are not actively involved in their care. Balancing society’s substantial interest in reducing the illegitimate use of dangerously addictive prescription drugs against the relatively minor intrusion upon a patient’s reasonable expectations of privacy when he or she is given a prescription by a treating physician, we conclude that, as applied to such patients, the Board’s actions here in accessing and compiling data from the CURES database did not violate article I, section 1 of the state Constitution. This is particularly so in light of the fact that the Board is prohibited by law from disclosing this data to third parties. Further, even a reasonable expectation of privacy is somewhat diminished as it is widely known that such investigative actions are possible with respect to controlled substances. In this setting, we conclude that the limited incremental intrusion upon a patient’s privacy is justified by the state’s countervailing interest in preventing the abuse of controlled substances. Accordingly, we hold the trial court correctly found there was good cause to enforce the subpoenas of the five patients’ medical records.