Opinion ID: 2033477
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: redacting personal patient information from fall lists

Text: As an additional assignment of error, AMISUB contends the district court erred in requiring production of the fall lists because those lists contain personal information regarding hospital patients, none of whom are parties to the underlying case. Presumably, by this assignment of error, AMISUB seeks some sort of a court order requiring that personal patient information be redacted from the fall lists before the lists are produced. We note, however, that outside an allusion to this issue in the briefs, there is nothing in the record to suggest that this request was first properly presented to the district court. This request first presented in this mandamus action will be disregarded inasmuch as the district court cannot have failed to perform an act which was not submitted to it for disposition. See, similarly, In re Interest of Natasha H. & Sierra H., 258 Neb. 131, 602 N.W.2d 439 (1999); Lackman v. Rousselle, 257 Neb. 87, 596 N.W.2d 15 (1999). Although we do not address this issue in this mandamus action, we note that AMISUB is free to request such a protective order from the district court, which has discretion, pursuant to Neb. Ct. R. of Discovery 26(c) (rev. 2000), to structure a protective order to restrict the discovery of personal information belonging to hospital patients not parties to the underlying case.