Opinion ID: 895126
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of Section 74.052(c)

Text: The Regians contend that a release executed under section 74.052(c) does not extend to authorize verbal interviews with health care providers. According to the Regians, the statute's reference to verbal information was instead intended to cover information that the patient orally conveyed to the physician. We agree with the court of appeals that such a reading of the statute is erroneous. 224 S.W.3d at 803. The term is used in describing the health information to be obtained, used, or disclosed, and is presented as a category of information in addition to written information. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE § 74.052(c). If, as the Regians argue, the provision refers to the means by which the information was conveyed to the physician, rather than the information that is to be disclosed, then the form also does not authorize the release of written medical records. Such a reading not only would render section 74.052(c) a nullity, it would undermine the Legislature's purpose of reducing the costs of health care liability claims because medical records could be obtained from non-party health care providers only through the use of subpoenas or other formal mandatory processes. Because we are to give meaning to all words in statutes and construe them to effectuate the Legislature's objective in enacting them, we conclude that the release authorizes non-party health care providers to orally convey relevant information to defendants. See TEX. GOV'T CODE §§ 311.021(2), 311.023(1), (5). The Regians further contend that, even if section 74.052(c) authorizes health care providers to orally convey health care information, it does not authorize defendants to contact them ex parte. In support, the Regians cite an exchange between two legislators in which one of the House Bill 4 sponsors stated, [n]othing in this section is intended to change the law of privilege [for a patient]. S.J. of Tex., 78th Leg., R.S. 5005 (2003) (statement of Senator Ratliff). According to the Regians, Texas law at that time forbade ex parte contacts between a health care liability defendant and a plaintiff-patient's health care provider. The Regians' argument is flawed in at least two respects. First, we have cautioned that legislative history cannot override a statute's plain words. Alex Sheshunoff Mgmt. Servs., L.P. v. Johnson, 209 S.W.3d 644, 652 n. 4 (Tex.2006). In this instance, the statute places no express restrictions on the conveyance of verbal information, and the fact that it calls for the release to be delivered well before suit is filed strongly implies that the Legislature envisioned a relatively informal process. Moreover, we agree with the court of appeals that prior to section 74.052(c)'s passage, Texas law did not clearly prohibit ex parte communications with nonparty health care providers. 224 S.W.3d at 803-04. In Mutter v. Wood, 744 S.W.2d 600, 601 (Tex.1988), the case upon which the Regians principally rely, we held that the trial court abused its discretion by requiring the plaintiffs to sign an authorization permitting the defendant-hospital's attorney to discuss the plaintiff's medical information with treating physicians. We did so, however, not because the authorization allowed ex parte contacts, but because it allowed access to information that was not relevant to the underlying suit and thus remained privileged. Id. We need not decide, however, whether section 74.052(c) authorizes ex parte contacts in all situations because, as explained below, the Regians failed to carry their burden in obtaining a protective order.