A senior care health facility is not protected by HIPAA from handing over patient medical information to the whistleblower who initiated a retaliation action against the company, an Allegheny County judge ruled.
In finding in favor of whistleblower Deborah Weaver in Weaver v. LIFE Pittsburgh , Common Pleas Court Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. ruled against both of her arguments as to why the records were not privileged under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. He instead determined simply that HIPAA allows for nonparty medical records to be discoverable without patient consent when it is in the course of judicial proceedings.
