California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Richmond, 2d Crim. No. B258109 (Cal. App. 2016):
The trial court treated HIPPA as an absolute bar to the disclosure of medical information. But HIPPA allows the release of medical information without the patient's consent pursuant to a court order. (See Snibbe v. Superior Court (2014) 224 Cal.App.4th 184, 197-198.) Nor is the psychotherapist-patient privilege embodied in the California Evidence Code ( 1014 et seq.) an absolute bar to the disclosure of information.
Instead, a criminal defendant's right to confront an adverse witness sometimes requires the witness to answer questions that call for privileged information. (Davis v. Alaska (1974) 415 U.S. 308, 320.)
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