Third Party Workers Compensation Actions Against Doctors

An Arizona court recently held that even absent a formal doctor-patient relationship, a doctor conducting an independent medical examination owes a duty of reasonable care to his or her patient [Ritchie v. Krasner, 2009 Ariz. App. LEXIS 78 (Ariz. Ct. App. Apr. 21, 2009)].  The Court indicated that an IME doctor has a duty "to conform to the legal standard of reasonable conduct in the light of the apparent risk."  Larson’s Workers Compensation Law. See Ch. 112, § 112.02[1][a] n.2.2.

Alabama Claimant Allowed to Sue Doctor For Unauthorized Release of Medical Information

Somewhat similarly, an Alabama court has held that a workers compensation claimant may sue a doctor for unauthorized release of medical information to the employer [Hollander v. Nichols, 2009 Ala. LEXIS 59 (Ala. Mar. 20, 2009)]. (WCxKit)

Plaintiff was terminated from his employment for allegedly asking the doctor to back date a work-release slip related to a workers compensation claim he had filed. In the underlying suit against defendants, he asserted that the doctor breach a duty to him by releasing his medical records to his employer without his permission. The court agreed with plaintiff that the doctor and the clinic failed to demonstrate that they were entitled to the exemption-from-liability provision in Ala. Code § 25-5-77(b) with regard to disclosure of the records as there was no evidence indicating that the employer or plaintiff made a written request for the copies to be provided to the employer. (WCxKit)

Therefore, the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on plaintiff's breach-of-contract claim against those defendants for the alleged unauthorized disclosure of his medical records. The court remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. See Larson’s Workers Compensation Law Ch. 112, § 12.02 .5.1.http://www.lexisnexis.com/community/workerscompensationlaw/