judge won't allow medical reports in court case

www.democratandchronicle.com...

Strong Memorial Hospital won't have to hand over its internal review into the death of a girl whose mother is charged with manslaughter for allegedly leaving the girl alone before a fire broke out in a Rochester apartment.

After Kamari died on Dec. 9, 2008, Strong conducted an internal review that showed the girl died of a heart attack and not of her burns, said Dianne C. Russell, Allen's lawyer.

Russell asked state Supreme Court Justice Francis A. Affronti to issue a judicial subpoena for a copy of the review.

In a court proceeding Thursday, Strong opposed releasing the review on the ground that it is a confidential document protected by the state Public Health Law. Affronti agreed.

this is a very interesting ongoing case


to sum up the situation

3 young children 3 and under were left alone in a house that caught fire

the mother is now on trial

one of the children died, authorities say it was from the fire

an internal investigation performed by the hospital revealed the girl died of a heart attack


the judge wont allow the hospitals investigation in the case due to health privacy laws

what i find crazy about this is the precedent it seems to set

from what i make of the situation is that they are saying if the authorities think something different happened then what the hospital thinks, then the hospital doesnt have to release their information


so what im wondering is since when is medical evidence not allowed?


maybe im not getting the full situation but the story doesnt make sense to me, maybe someone else on ats can make heads or tails of this