Court Opinion

ID: 9856843
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 07:01:39.862676+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:26.276787
License: Public Domain

STEELMAN, Judge
concurs in separate opinion.
I fully concur in parts II and III of the majority opinion. As to part I, I concur in the result.
The majority focuses upon plaintiff’s claim for pain and suffering to support the waiver of plaintiff’s physician-patient privilege. This view is too narrow. By instituting an action for personal injury, regardless of whether there is a claim for pain and suffering, a plaintiff may impliedly waive the physician-patient privilege. The scope of that waiver must be determined by the allegations contained in the pleadings, and the nature and extent of the injury. See Spangler v. Olchowski, 187 N.C. App. 684, 691, 654 S.E.2d 507, 513 (2007) (“[A] patient impliedly waives this privilege when she opens the door to her medical history by bringing an action, counterclaim, or defense that places her medical condition at issue.” (citation omitted)). A defendant is entitled to discover the condition of the plaintiff at the time of the alleged injury in order to properly evaluate whether the plaintiff’s condition is the result of that injury, an aggravation of a pre-existing condition, or solely due to a pre-existing condition.
I discern no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial judge in the instant case. I concur with the majority that the fact that plaintiff has produced material in discovery is not determinative as to whether it will be admissible at trial.