NC: SW for medical records was reasonable and not barred by HIPAA

Defendant’s motion to suppress wasn’t timely, and the trial court didn’t err for denying it on that ground alone. Even so, on the merits, obtaining defendant’s medical records for DUI by search warrant wasn’t unreasonable: HIPAA permits search and seizure of medical records by legal process, here a search warrant. State v. Smith, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 820 (Aug. 2, 2016):

By its plain language, 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(f) permits disclosure of health information to law enforcement as required by search warrant, if certain conditions are met. Defendant has not alleged that the search warrant in this case sought information that was not “relevant and material to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry” or was insufficiently “specific and limited in scope,” or that de-identified information could have reasonably been used instead. See 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(f)(1)(ii) (2016). Accordingly, Defendant has not demonstrated that his medical records were obtained in violation of 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(f) or N.C.G.S. § 90-21.20B(a).