Opinion ID: 492349
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Disclosure of Hospital Records

Text: 68 Appellant Cresta asserts that the district court erred in denying his request for disclosure of the hospital records of Robert Kenney, a government witness. Kenney was hospitalized for alcohol and drug abuse one month after Cresta's arrest. Prior to trial, the government informed defense counsel when, where, and under what name Kenney had received treatment. There was extensive testimony, on direct and cross examination, establishing that Kenney had used cocaine during the crime itself and had abused alcohol and drugs for a number of years, as well as on the potential effects of these excesses on his memory in regards to the events about which he had testified. 69 Both the statute invoked by Cresta and the governing regulations carry a strong presumption against disclosing records of this kind. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 290ee-3(a). The express purpose of this provision is to encourage patients to seek treatment for substance abuse without fear that by so doing, their privacy will be compromised. See 42 C.F.R. Sec. 2.64(f). See also United States v. Graham, 548 F.2d 1302, 1314 (8th Cir.1977). If the patient fails to give prior written consent, records of treatment may only be disclosed after the court looks at the applicant's good cause and balances the public interest and the need for disclosure, against the injury to the patient, to the physician-patient relationship, and to the treatment services. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 290ee-3(b)(2)(C). The burden was on Cresta to establish good cause for the release of the records. The court below found that this burden was not met. Considering the extensive direct and cross-examination on the subject, we agree. 70 Witness Kenney's addiction to drugs and alcohol was fully disclosed by his own testimony and little else would have been gained from an examination of the records. We believe the appellant was fully able to present the witness' state of mind and mental and physical condition to the jury without these records. 71