Filed: Dec. 20, 2017
Latest Update: Dec. 20, 2017
Summary: ORDER ALLISON CLAIRE , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds with appointed counsel in this civil rights action alleging deliberate indifference to plaintiff's serious medical needs by defendant physicians Mathis and Daszko. Defendants' separate motions for summary judgment are pending before the court. On December 19, 2017, plaintiff submitted a request to file under seal, pursuant to Local Rule 141, portions of plaintiff's medical records, deposition testimony referenc
Summary: ORDER ALLISON CLAIRE , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds with appointed counsel in this civil rights action alleging deliberate indifference to plaintiff's serious medical needs by defendant physicians Mathis and Daszko. Defendants' separate motions for summary judgment are pending before the court. On December 19, 2017, plaintiff submitted a request to file under seal, pursuant to Local Rule 141, portions of plaintiff's medical records, deposition testimony referenci..
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ORDER
ALLISON CLAIRE, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds with appointed counsel in this civil rights action alleging deliberate indifference to plaintiff's serious medical needs by defendant physicians Mathis and Daszko. Defendants' separate motions for summary judgment are pending before the court.
On December 19, 2017, plaintiff submitted a request to file under seal, pursuant to Local Rule 141, portions of plaintiff's medical records, deposition testimony referencing plaintiff's medical records, and an expert report discussing plaintiff's medical records. See ECF No. 94. Plaintiff anticipates relying on these records in support of his opposition to defendants' motions for summary judgment. The records have been submitted in camera as Exhibits 1-18 to the Declaration of Alexander M. Smith and Exhibit 2 to the Declaration of Gregory Gilbert.
All parties have informed the court that they entered into a stipulation earlier this year to protect the confidentiality of plaintiff's medical records; plaintiff has again provided the court with a copy of the stipulation. See ECF No. 94, Ex. A.
As the undersigned has previously informed the parties, see ECF Nos. 86, 88, while the parties are free to enter into such stipulations without a court order, plaintiff's medical records are essential to address the merits of this action — in the parties' briefing, at oral argument, and in the court's orders and findings and recommendations. While the court will permit the parties to file plaintiff's medical records under seal, thus protecting the original documents from public view, the court will place no restrictions on subsequent references to, or reliance on, plaintiff's medical records in the parties' briefing, at oral argument, or in the court's written references and analyses.
Subject to these limitations, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's request to file under seal the documents designated Exhibits 1-18 to the Declaration of Alexander M. Smith, and Exhibit 2 to the Declaration of Gregory Gilbert, is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to file these documents under seal. The documents will be destroyed or returned to plaintiff's counsel at the close of this case.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
