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Abstract: 

Much of the abuse and neglect that affects the elderly and disabled takes place in residential facilities of one kind or another such as nursing homes, community residences, and the like. If these facilities receive federal funding, there is usually a requirement that they have policies and procedures for the reporting and investigation of incidents of abuse and neglect. Even if they do not, there is probably a state statutory or regulatory requirement for much the same thing. In a previous article, I wrote about the factors that sometimes inhibit provider agencies from diligently complying with the requirements of such policies and procedures and about the fear of liability. A recent decision of the NY Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court now sheds some more light on this somewhat arcane and confusing area of law, where the two public policies collide—the policy requiring that all relevant information that will aid in the search for truth be disclosed in legal proceedings, and the policy that protects “quality assurance” documents from disclosure even though they may be relevant and helpful in the search for truth.

Keywords: Subpoena Deuces Tecum; medicare fraud subpoena; Bredice v. Doctor’s Hospital, 50 F.R.D. 249 (D.D.C. 1970), aff’d, 479 F.2d 920 (D.C. Cir. 1973)

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