Center for Legal Advocacy v. Earnest,
No. Civ. A. 01-WY-642-CB (Feb. 22, 2002)

A mental health advocacy group sought access to patient medical records pursuant to two separate federal statutes. It claimed that when it attempted to gather information on the death of a hospital patient under the statutes pertaining to mental health advocacy, a treatment facility illegally blocked access to the patient's records pertaining to drug and alcohol treatment. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted plaintiff access to the patient's records, subject to certain conditions.