June 2018

  Twice with her father and her uncle in the room the patient asked her nurse why she was bleeding and having so much pain after her surgery.  The nurse informed her the first time that she had had a hysterectomy, not just a tubal ligation, and the next time explained that pain is to be expected after a hysterectomy. COURT OF APPEALS OF MINNESOTA May 14, 2018

  When she was admitted to the hospital unit before surgery the patient made it very clear to the nurses at the nurses station that she did not want any hospital staff sharing any details of her treatment with any of her family members beyond assuring them that she was all right.  

  The Court of Appeals of Minnesota dismissed the patient’s lawsuit against the hospital that alleged violation of her right to medical confidentiality.  The Court pointed out that state law not only permits but requires healthcare facilities to honor patients’ express requests for their medical information.  As soon as the patient asked her nurse for information about her medical situation, her nurse had an absolute obligation to tell her exactly what was going on, even though other persons were in the room.  It was the nurse who revealed to the father and uncle that the patient came in for a tubal ligation and had a hysterectomy.   However, the nurse revealed those facts only after the patient asked the nurse with full knowledge that her family members were present.  A conversation known not to be private is not confidential. Porter v. Hospital, 2018 WL 2187047 (Minn. App., May 14, 2018).