If you are subpoenaed or contacted by a police officer, investigator, IDFPR investigator, attorney, or other official, it is important to secure a legal consultation to confirm when, if, or how you should respond. CLICK HERE to schedule a consultation prior to responding to an inquiry.
If you receive a subpoena it is important you seek legal advice
Do not email a copy of any documents to anyone, including your lawyer, unless you are authorized to do so and do so in a HIPAA compliant way. Your efforts to be compliant and do the right thing may get you in hot water. You may call our office at 847-279-0026 or email [email protected]. In that email, do not identify the patient name, only identify you have received a subpoena and our office will forward a HIPAA compliant link via email to you that will allow a secured portal to forward documents to us. In the alternative, you may fax information to our firm at 847-279-0337.
If you are subpoenaed, keep in mind, all records and communications are confidential and shall not be disclosed except as provided in the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act. Unless otherwise expressly provided for in the Act, records and communications made or created in the course of providing mental health or developmental disabilities services shall be protected from disclosure regardless of whether the records and communications are made or created in the course of a therapeutic relationship.
Failure to comply strictly to the requirements of the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act may result in Civil and Criminal liability:
- You could be sued for damages,
- You could be sued for an injunction, or other appropriate relief,
- You could be sued for attorney's fees and costs,
- Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of the Act is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
Many lawyers are unaware that they may not subpoena a mental health provider seeking to obtain access to records or communications unless the subpoena contains specific notice language and is accompanied by either:
- a valid release, or
- WRITTEN ORDER issued by a judge AFTER SERVICE OF A MOTION ON THE PROFESSIONAL.
The valid Release or Order must authorize the disclosure of the records and the issuance of the subpoena.
The Act states No person shall comply with a subpoena for records or communications otherwise.
There are exceptions for Juvenile Court - Abuse and Neglect vs Delinquency, Federal law suits have to be sensitively handled, and there are also some accommodations regarding the Department of Health and Human Services.
