Superior Court Refuses to Enforce California Emergency Medical Services Authority’s (EMSA) Investigative Subpoena for Medical Records

Our client is an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) licensed by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA).  The EMSA subpoenaed our client’s medical records from a local hospital in response to allegations of illicit drug use by an anonymous source.  In order to protect our client’s right to privacy, we filed objections to the subpoena with the hospital and filed suit in the Bay Area to quash the subpoena.  In response to our lawsuit, the EMSA filed a separate action against the hospital to enforce the subpoena in Sacramento Superior Court. 

The Bay Area court dismissed our case in favor of the Sacramento Superior Court action.  We worked with the hospital’s law firm to defeat the Board’s motion to enforce the subpoena and thereby protected our client’s right to privacy in his medical records.