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Public Health Information Management, Privacy and Security

Shepherd v. Costco Wholesale Corp.

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Overview

Shepherd v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (Supreme Court of Arizona, March 8, 2021): The Supreme Court of Arizona held that a plaintiff alleging negligent disclosure of medical information does not have to allege bad faith or rebut the good faith presumption to withstand a motion to dismiss based on the “good faith” immunity provided in Arizona Revised Statute § 12-2296. Shepherd sued Costco for publicly disclosing a medication that he claims to have rejected twice, alleging public disclosure of private facts, negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and more. The court found that Costco was not entitled to dismissal based on good faith statutory immunity for health care providers because Shepherd was not required to anticipate this potential defense in his complaint, nor was he required at that point to prove that Costco did not act in good faith. Read the decision here.

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – April 15, 2021.

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