PROFESSIONMaryland doctor fights board reprimandAt issue is patient confidentiality versus a medical board's right to investigate.By Mike Norbut, amednews staff. May 16, 2005. In a lawsuit that pits a physician's duty to protect patient confidentiality against a medical board's request for records, a Maryland psychiatrist is fighting a fine and reprimand the Maryland Board of Physicians levied against him on charges that he did not cooperate with a board investigation. Harold I. Eist, MD, who is based in Bethesda, Md., and is an American Psychiatric Assn. past president, says he was not uncooperative. Dr. Eist said that he was merely abiding by his patients' wishes when he did not immediately turn over their medical records to the board. But the Maryland Board of Physicians, formerly known as the Maryland State Board of Physician Quality Assurance, maintains that its right to medical information during an investigation outweighs a patient's right to privacy. Organized medicine is closely watching Dr. Eist's legal challenge, with several psychiatric organizations filing a joint friend-of the court brief on the physician's behalf. Psychiatrists believe that letting the fine and reprimand stand will put patient confidentiality at risk and negatively impact patient access to care. "There is no doubt this psychiatrist listened to his patients," said Jim Pyles, who serves as counsel for the American Psychoanalytic Assn. and who wrote a brief supporting Dr. Eist on behalf of several psychiatric organizations. "He asked his patient if he could provide her records, and the patient said 'No.' " The medical board, however, believes that it has a statutory right to subpoena and collect patient records without the patient's authorization, especially when the investigation is in the interest of the public's health. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2005 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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