New Health Care Liability Action Opinion: Case Dismissed Due to Noncompliance with Onerous and Unfair Presuit Notice Requirements

The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently issued its opinion in Harmon v. Shore, No. M2014-01339-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 23, 2015).  The summary from the opinion states as follows:

This is a Health Care Liability case. Appellees are the treating physician and hospital. The trial court granted Appellees‟ Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 12.02 motions to dismiss Appellant‟s lawsuit for failure to comply with the Tennessee Code Annotated Section 29-26-121(a)(2)(E) notice provision for health care liability claims. Specifically, the trial court determined that the required Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) medical authorization provided by Appellant was not substantially compliant with the statutory requirements in that the relevant medical records were released only to Appellant‟s lawyer. Discerning no error, we affirm and remand.

Here is a link to the opinion:

http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/harmonwhitney.opn_.pdf