Sec. 52-146o. Disclosure of patient communication or information by physician, surgeon or health care provider prohibited.
Sec. 52-146o. Disclosure of patient communication or information by physician, surgeon or health care provider prohibited. (a) Except as provided in sections
52-146c to 52-146j, inclusive, and subsection (b) of this section, in any civil action
or any proceeding preliminary thereto or in any probate, legislative or administrative
proceeding, a physician or surgeon, as defined in subsection (b) of section 20-7b, shall
not disclose (1) any communication made to him by, or any information obtained by
him from, a patient or the conservator or guardian of a patient with respect to any actual
or supposed physical or mental disease or disorder or (2) any information obtained by
personal examination of a patient, unless the patient or his authorized representative
explicitly consents to such disclosure.
(b) Consent of the patient or his authorized representative shall not be required for
the disclosure of such communication or information (1) pursuant to any statute or
regulation of any state agency or the rules of court, (2) by a physician, surgeon or other
licensed health care provider against whom a claim has been made, or there is a reasonable belief will be made, in such action or proceeding, to his attorney or professional
liability insurer or such insurer's agent for use in the defense of such action or proceeding,
(3) to the Commissioner of Public Health for records of a patient of a physician, surgeon
or health care provider in connection with an investigation of a complaint, if such records
are related to the complaint, or (4) if child abuse, abuse of an elderly individual, abuse
of an individual who is physically disabled or incompetent or abuse of an individual
with mental retardation is known or in good faith suspected.
(P.A. 90-177; P.A. 91-141; P.A. 96-47, S. 13.)
History: P.A. 91-141 rephrased provisions re exceptions to the prohibition on disclosure and added Subsec. (b)(2) and
(3)re disclosure to the attorney or professional liability insurer of a physician, surgeon or licensed health care provider and
disclosure when abuse of certain individuals is known or suspected; P.A. 96-47 deleted "or other licensed health care
provider" in Subsec. (a), adding reference to definitions in Sec. 20-7b(b) and inserted new Subsec. (b)(3) authorizing
disclosure to Commissioner of Public Health, renumbering former Subdiv. as Subdiv. (4) (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (a)
the phrase "..., a physician, surgeon, as defined in ..." was changed editorially by the Revisors to "..., a physician or surgeon,
as defined in ...").
Cited. 225 C. 700. Cited. 240 C. 658.
Statutory privilege for medical records does not apply to criminal proceedings. 74 CA 633.