In re Bailey v. Hermacinski

Citations

• 2018 CO 14
• 413 P.3d 157

Syllabus

Physician–Patient Privilege—Implied Waiver. In this original proceeding, the Supreme Court considered the scope of the physician–patient privilege in a medical malpractice action. Contrary to the conclusion of the trial court, the Court held that plaintiffs' non-party medical providers were not in consultation with defendants such that the typically privileged information held by those non-party medical providers was no longer protected by the physician–patient privilege. Therefore, the trial court abused its discretion when it granted defendants' request to hold ex parte interviews with those non-party medical providers on consultation grounds. However, the Court remanded the case to the trial court for consideration of whether plaintiffs impliedly waived the protection of the physician–patient privilege such that ex parte interviews may still be permitted.