What is ashcroft up to now?
Northwestern escapes DOJ subpoena
Judge denies Ashcroft's request for patient medical records
By Mark Taylor
A move by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to subpoena the medical records of 40 patients who received so-called partial-birth abortions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago was halted—at least temporarily—when a Chicago federal judge quashed the information request.
The ruling is the first in a series of subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department seeking the medical records of patients from seven physicians and at least five hospitals, Crain's sister publication Modern Healthcare has learned. Besides Northwestern, Mr. Ashcroft is seeking patient records from University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in Ann Arbor; Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp.; Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital both of which are part of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System; and an unidentified San Francisco-area hospital.
In a 16-page decision, U.S. Chief District Judge Charles Kocoras denied the government’s request to obtain patient medical records from Northwestern, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Illinois’ medical privacy law.
Northwestern received the subpoena in December, a month after obstetrician/gynecologist Cassing Hammond, a member of Northwestern’s staff and medical school faculty, was served with subpoenas seeking his patient records. Hammond is one of seven doctors and three groups who has challenged the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing the National Abortion Federation; Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, which are all filing challenges to the law. A hearing for all of the challenges has been scheduled for March 29 in U.S. District Court in New York.
Dr. Hammond refused comment last week. His case is pending.
Sources at New York Presbyterian and Hahnemann who requested anonymity confirmed the subpoenas at those hospitals. The University of Michigan had not returned calls for comment at deadline.
In his decision, Judge Kocoras said the records “appear to have been sought for the purpose of testing the assertions in Dr. Hammond’s declarations. At best, the government is seeking possible impeachment material.”
While the Justice Department has said it is not seeking information that would identify the patients, that did not persuade Judge Kocoras.
A department spokeswoman Monica Goodling said the department does not comment on ongoing litigation but said, “We are reviewing the ruling in light of our commitment to defending the law banning partial-birth abortions.”
Northwestern spokeswoman Kelly Sullivan said that HIPAA and the Illinois law required the hospital to protect the privacy and confidentiality of patient records. “Patients are not a party to the litigation and thus (Northwestern) cannot produce the medical records of nonparties,” Ms. Sullivan said. “The judge agreed and quashed the subpoena request.”
Alicia Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the American Hospital Assn., said the group is not aware of the patient records subpoenas. “But we assume that HIPAA medical records privacy protections apply equally to everyone,” Ms. Mitchell said.
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