5 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 57a
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Opposing medical expert — Request for computer printouts relating to amounts paid over four-year period to physician who assisted in evaluation of PIP claim was unduly burdensome — Request for 1099 forms for three years not unduly burdensome
DEBRA PACHA-GUYOT, as Records custodian for MTC, INC., Petitioner, v. MARCELINO MARTINEZ, FORTUNE INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondents. 11th Judicial Circuit, Appellate Division. Case Nos. 96-096AP, 96-171AP (consolidated). Opinion filed September 12, 1997. A Petition for Writ of Certiorari from the County Court for Dade County, Roger A. Silver, Judge. Counsel: Beth A. Moriarty, Moriarty & Grunor, P.A., for Petitioner. Mark J. Feldman, Mark J. Feldman, P.A., for Respondent.
(Before KAHN, LEDERMAN and BLAKE, JJ.)
(PER CURIAM.) This was an action for recovery of PIP benefits claimed by the Plaintiff (Respondent herein). The Defendant insurance company retained the services of MTC, Inc. (Petitioner herein) to evaluate the claim, and the Petitioner in turn hired a physician to assist in that evaluation. The Respondent perceiving some inconsistencies in the physician’s deposition as to payments received from the Petitioner for other evaluations, deemed it appropriate to seek potential impeachment material by way of computer printouts and 1099 forms relating to amounts paid to the physician for four years beginning January 1, 1992. The Petitioner sought a protective order from the trial court, claiming that the computer printout request was particularly oppressive because the records were kept by patient name, not by physician name, and the cost of complying would total $28,250 for labor and copying. The Petitioner claimed further that the 1099s covered payments to the physician for others than the Defendant in this case, so should not be required to be produced.
The trial court’s denial of the Motion for Protective Order (except for the 1099 for 1992), precipitated the Petition for Writ of Certiorari now before this court.
Both parties refer us to Elkins v. Syken, 672 So.2d 517 (Fla. 1996) for the criteria for seeking financial information from opposing medical experts. We needn’t list those criteria here, but conclude that the request for computer printouts in the case before us is unduly burdensome, but it is not so, however, as to the 1099s for 1993, 1994 and 1995.
Accordingly, the Petition for Writ of Certiorari is granted as to the Plaintiff’s request for computer printouts, but denied as to 1099s for the years 1993, 1994 and 1995. The order of the trial court is modified accordingly. The requested information had been required in a subpoena for deposition duces tecum to the record’s custodian of the Petitioner. In the interest of economy, compliance can be had by sending the 1099 copies to the Plaintiff’s attorney, without the necessity of deposing the record’s custodian.
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