B.D. v. Good Samaritan Hosp. Med. Ctr.

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed an order denying the plaintiffs' requests for a protective order concerning the infant plaintiff's deposition and disclosure of medical and pharmacy records. The court held that the plaintiffs did not show that the requested records were irrelevant, overbroad, or vague, and that the infant plaintiff was competent to testify without a preliminary examination.

Holdings

1. The denial of the CPLR 3103 protective order was proper because plaintiffs failed to show that the hematologist and geneticist records were unrelated to the claimed injuries or that the pharmacy-record demand was overbroad or vague.
2. The denial of the protective order precluding the infant plaintiff's deposition was proper, and the court did not err in determining that the infant plaintiff was competent to testify without conducting a preliminary examination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion by denying a CPLR 3103 protective order concerning disclosure of the infant plaintiff's medical and pharmacy records.
2. Whether the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion by denying a protective order precluding the deposition of the infant plaintiff.
3. Whether the infant plaintiff was competent to testify without a preliminary examination.

Disposition

affirmed