U.S. Supreme Court allows dental records lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court said it will not review a California Supreme Court decision that allowed a Los Angeles dental patient to sue a debt collector who gave his dental records to credit reporting agencies following a bill dispute with a dentist.

The December 12 high court action leaves standing a June decision in which the California court reinstated claims brought against Stewart Mortensen, alleging he violated California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, according to a story by Health IT Law & Industry Report.

The case stems from a dispute that began in 2000 between Robert Brown, a Los Angeles lawyer, and Rolf Reinholds, DDS, a Glendale, CA, dentist who treated Brown and his two children. Brown claimed that Dr. Reinholds billed him $600 for a dental crown that he never received, and he refused to pay for.

Dr. Reinholds subsequently turned the matter over to a bill collector and a credit agency, along with a copy of Brown's dental charts and the charts of his two minor children.

Debt collector Stewart Mortensen in turn disclosed the Browns' confidential medical information to the consumer reporting agencies Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. He also sent the family's Social Security numbers, personal information, and complete dental histories to the agencies.

After Mortensen refused to stop the disclosures, Brown sued Mortensen, alleging violations of the California's confidentiality law, which forbids the unauthorized dissemination of medical information.

A Los Angeles trial court said Brown's claims were too vague and dismissed them. The Court of Appeal concurred, ruling that Brown's claims were pre-empted by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

But in June the California Supreme Court overturned both lower court rulings, finding that the FCRA is designed to protect against harmful disclosure of inaccurate information, while California law forbids unauthorized release of medical information.

Dr. Reinholds also made further unauthorized disclosures to Equifax, and Brown never authorized Dr. Reinholds or Mortensen to disclose this information to any third party, including the three consumer reporting agencies, the high court ruled.

Brown's original lawsuit against Mortensen will now go back to the trial court.