Another crisis not going to waste for plaintiffs: HIPAA Qualified Protective Order

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Goldberg Segalla focusing on professional liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, and general tort defense. He is the legislative chair of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. Eckler also is the co-host of the Podium and Panel podcast with Daniel Cotter. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted November 10, 2021 10:31 AM

Following the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court in Haage v. Zavala, 2021 IL 125918, the HIPAA Qualified Protective Order previously used in Cook County had to be redone because the high court held that there were inadequate privacy protections contained therein. Right or wrong that is now the law in Illinois. At the very least, and as called for in this space on May 27, 2020, the Haage decision put Illinois a step closer to a uniform order for the acquisition of medical records.That was, until Friday, Nov. 5, when the …

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