Graham v. Dacheikh
991 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
Petitioners, who were defendants in an automobile negligence action, sought a petition for writ of certiorari to quash a discovery order that compelled a neurologist who performed a medical examination of one respondent, pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.360, to produce all "reports of examiner" that he had prepared pursuant to that rule in any other lawsuit between 2004 and 2006. Petitioners argued that the documents requested were not discoverable, relevant, or admissible; that the request was unduly burdensome; and that the discovery invaded the privacy of the nonparty patients. Respondents argued that the request was appropriate based on the Florida Supreme Court's Amente decision. The appellate court granted the petition solely on the ground that it departed from the essential requirements of the law in requiring the disclosure of confidential medical information of nonparties without notice to those parties as required by § 456.057(7), Fla. Stat. (2006), and without adequate protections to protect the privacy rights of those nonparties under Art. I, § 23, Fla. Const. The holding in Amente did not eliminate the requirements of § 456.057, Fla. Stat. in standard personal injury lawsuits when the requested records were possessed by a physician who was not a party to the action. Thus, the trial court's order departed from the essential requirements of the law and caused irreparable injury to the privacy rights of nonparties who had been given no notice and no opportunity to be heard.