In re Fort Worth Children's Hosp.,
100 S.W.3d 582 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003)

The Texas Court of Appeals ruled that patient health information was not shielded from discovery by the state hospital licensing law or the physician-patient privilege. The information in question had been sought by the parents of newborns who had received a certain vitamin supplement at the hospital. The parents alleged that the vitamin had harmed their children, and attempted to discover the names of all other infants who had been given the vitamin while at the hospital. The hospital refused to provide the information, stating that it was protected by both the physician-patient privilege and the confidentiality provisions of the hospital licensing law. The court ruled that the hospital had presented no evidence that the information in question had been created or maintained by a physician, thus precluding application of the physician-patient privilege. Also, the hospital licensing law permitted the release of patient health information in response to a court order. Since the trial court had ordered that the information be provided, the hospital licensing law did not preclude its discovery.