In a win for privacy rights of medical marijuana patients, a Los Angeles appellate court has ruled a doctor does not have to comply with a subpoena seeking production of his patient records.

The Medical Board of California must present more than “speculations, unsupported suspicions, and conclusory statements” to justify subpoenaing patient records from a doctor suspected of indiscriminately prescribing marijuana, this district’s Court of Appeal ruled yesterday. Justice Laurence D. Rubin of Div. Eight said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs erred in ordering Dr. David Louis Bearman to comply with an administrative subpoena seeking records of his treatment of a patient identified by the court only as “Nathan.” The board sought the records after park rangers found marijuana and smoking pipes in Nathan’s possession at the Lake Piru Recreation Area. Nathan presented Bearman’s letter stating he was medically certified to use marijuana to control his migraine headaches.

When Nathan wouldn't produce his own records, the medical board tried to get them from his doctor. The Court held:

“When the Medical Board seeks judicial enforcement of a subpoena for a physician’s medical records, it cannot delve into an area of reasonably expected privacy simply because it wants assurance the law is not violated or a doctor is not negligent in treatment of his or her patient.”