Opinion ID: 2182367
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defendants' Office Records

Text: Almost without exception, the materials sought here consist of the defendants' patient billing records and medical records. These were the subject of the defendants' cross-motion for return. Standing alone, disclosure of these records would appear not to implicate factors (4) and (5) of the Procter & Gamble test. See supra at 247. With respect to encouragement of free disclosure by persons with knowledge of crime, there is nothing here that would serve to deter that end by production of defendants' office records. Factor (5) for grand jury secrecy, protecting the innocent accused who is exonerated from disclosure of the fact that he or she has been under investigation, has little application in this case since the indictment of all the defendants except NJCCP moots that issue, and as to NJCCP, its symbiotic relationship with the indicted defendants makes that issue of slight importance. No one disputes that the records are necessary to the civil investigations that the State wants to pursue. The trial court found that the State had a compelling and particularized need for them. The court's analysis, however, reflected the Sells standard that we have adopted. Defendants did not raise any objections they would have had if the materials had been subpoenaed directly by the agency. Instead, defendants argue that since the agencies had discovery powers to obtain the information, there was no need to turn over the grand jury material. But we must also recognize that unnecessary precautions may have to be taken to avert the possibility of records being lost in the process. In SEC v. National Student Mktg. Corp., 430 F. Supp. 639 (D.D.C. 1977), the court noted that although a high degree of materiality and relevance does not alone establish need, when the evidence is otherwise available (there by deposition of the same witnesses), the policy reasons for secrecy are diminished. Id. at 641. We believe that the trial court here correctly balanced the interests of the parties by providing that the Division of Criminal Justice could disclose, but had to preserve the materials and return the originals or copies to defendants. In making its evaluation of need, the trial court expressly considered that the disclosure would serve the public purposes of recovering lost funds and protecting the public's health and safety from professional misconduct. Cf. Matter of Grand Jury Proceedings, Miller Brewing Co., 717 F. 2d at 1140 (public interest in collecting multi-million dollar tax liability is factor to be weighed in disclosure decision). Finally, we find no suggestion of abuse of the grand jury process present in this record. For all that appears, the investigation confined itself to the billing practices that raised questions of Medicaid fraud. Those records were readily available to the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services under N.J.S.A. 30:4D-7(n). The trial court also pointed to the discovery powers of the Attorney General acting through the Division of Consumer Affairs under N.J.S.A. 52:17B-122. There is no suggestion that the grand jury was diverted to inquire into other areas of professional incompetence. [6] There may be problems present with respect to the confidentiality of patients' records. N.J.S.A. 45:14B-28 (psychologist-patient privilege); N.J.S.A. 2A:84A-22.1 to -22.7 (physician-patient privilege); N.J.A.C. 10:49-1.22 (confidentiality of Medicaid records); Gabor v. Hyland, 166 N.J. Super. 275 (App.Div. 1979). Those claims of privilege were not asserted below. In some circumstances, a court may wish to give notice to the third party that may have an interest in resisting disclosure of the materials. In conclusion, we hold that the State has made a strong showing of a particularized need for these specific materials, that the policy reasons for secrecy of grand jury materials are minimal in view of the character of the materials, and that there is no showing of abuse of the grand jury process.