Board of Registration in Medicine v. Doe

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a board-certified psychiatrist who practiced pain management qualified as a "psychotherapist" under the statutory psychotherapist-patient privilege. The court further held that the privilege statute did not permit balancing the Board of Registration in Medicine's public-safety interest against the confidentiality interests protected by the privilege. The court vacated the order enforcing the subpoena for patient records and remanded for entry of an order quashing it.

Holdings

1. A licensed physician whose pain-management practice is a subspecialty of psychiatry devotes a substantial portion of his time to the practice of psychiatry and qualifies as a psychotherapist under G. L. c. 233, § 20B.
2. The psychotherapist-patient privilege statute does not permit a court to balance the Board's public-safety interest against the confidentiality interests protected by the privilege, and the privilege applies to the Board's administrative investigation.
3. Doe was entitled to an opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine the Board's witnesses concerning whether he qualified as a psychotherapist, although the existing record made a further hearing unnecessary to resolve this case.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Doe qualified as a psychotherapist under G. L. c. 233, § 20B, because he was licensed to practice medicine and devoted a substantial portion of his time to the practice of psychiatry.
2. Whether the psychotherapist-patient privilege could be overridden by a public-interest balancing test allowing the Board to obtain patient records during an investigation of physician misconduct.
3. Whether Doe was entitled to an evidentiary hearing to challenge the evidence concerning the nature and extent of his psychiatric practice.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded