Opinion ID: 3135235
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Jennifer Peters-Farrell filed a petition for dissolution of her marriage to Thomas Peters-Farrell. During the course of the proceedings, Thomas served subpoenas on three pharmacies seeking Jennifer’s prescription records, including the “name of the medication, what the medication is used to treat, dosage, how often refilled, copy of prescription and any other related records.” Jennifer moved to quash the subpoenas. In her motion, Jennifer asserted the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act (Confidentiality Act) (740 ILCS 110/1 et seq. (West 2000)) prohibited disclosure of her prescription records without a court order and the subpoenas constituted an attempt to circumvent her privilege under the Act. The circuit court denied Jennifer’s motion to quash the subpoenas, but certified the question noted above to the appellate court. The appellate court allowed the interlocutory appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 308 (155 Ill. 2d R. 308). 345 Ill. App. 3d 603. In answering the certified question, the appellate court held a pharmacy’s records of prescriptions issued to mental health recipients are protected from disclosure under the Confidentiality Act. 345 Ill. App. 3d at 608. The appellate court filed its opinion on December 31, 2003. We granted Thomas’ petition for leave to appeal (177 Ill. 2d R. 315(a)). Jennifer subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, asserting the trial court had entered a judgment of dissolution of marriage that resolved all issues between the parties. Jennifer asserted the parties filed a joint motion on December 30, 2003, notifying the appellate court of the entry of the judgment. Jennifer attached a copy of the joint motion filed in the appellate court to her motion to dismiss this appeal. In the joint motion, the parties stated “it has become commonplace for attorneys in not only domestic relations cases but personal injury cases to issue subpoenas for pharmaceutical records as a discovery tool without affording any privacy to the party whose records have been subpoenaed.” The parties acknowledged that the appeal was rendered moot by the judgment, but nonetheless urged the appellate court to decide the certified question because it involved an important public interest. The parties further asserted this was a matter of first impression. In his response to the motion to dismiss, Thomas noted Jennifer had previously agreed in the joint motion to the appellate court that the certified question should be addressed under the public interest exception to the mootness doctrine. Thomas urged this court to decide the certified question under the public interest exception. This court denied Jennifer’s motion to dismiss the appeal. We allowed the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Inc., and the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation to file amicus curiae briefs in support of Thomas. 155 Ill. 2d R. 345.