Court Opinion

ID: 9626948
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:28:59.542078+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:37.138900
License: Public Domain

WATHEN, C.J.,
dissenting.
[¶ 17] I must respectfully dissent. Medical information belongs to the patient, not the consulting physician. After receiving two written requests from his patient, Dr. Balian’s abject failure to explain his particular requirements for releasing copies of the patient’s records was blatantly improper. The patient and the referring health care providers were left without any means for understanding the true reasons for Dr. Bali-an’s failure to supply copies of routine medical records. That Dr. Balian’s actions, ignoring his patient’s request and subsequent inquiry without explaining his requirements, constituted a breach of his duty to his patient is surely a matter within common knowledge. Therefore the Board was not required to introduce expert testimony of the appropriate standard of care. See Searles v. Trustees of St. Joseph’s College, 695 A.2d 1206, 1210 (Me.1997) (citing Cyr v. Giesen, 150 Me. 248, 252, 108 A.2d 316, 318 (1954)). I would affirm the judgment.