Justia Missouri Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Michael Patton filed a two-count personal injury action under the Federal Employers' Liability Act against his employer, BNSF Railway Company, alleging that BNSF negligently required him to perform heavy manual labor in extreme heat and, as a result, he lost consciousness and fell, and that striking his head in the fall caused him to suffer subsequent reoccurring seizures and fainting spells. To bolster its defense that Patton's injuries were caused by prescription drug use, BNSF sought discovery of records held by Patton's treating psychiatrist. The trial court issued a protective order preventing the discovery of the records. The Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus ordering the trial court to lift its protective order, holding (1) the trial court abused its discretion in holding that discovery of the records of a treating psychiatrist is precluded entirely where, as here, the plaintiff alleges only physical rather than psychological injury; and (2) BNSF showed that it had reason to believe that discovery of treatment records held by Patton's psychiatrist was calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence on its theory of causation. Remanded. View "State ex rel. BNSF Ry. Co. v. Judge Neill " on Justia Law