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Section 52-146d – (Formerly Sec. 52-146a). Privileged communications between psychiatric mental health provider and patient. Definitions

May 11, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Connecticut

As used in sections 52-146d to 52-146i, inclusive:

(1) “Authorized representative” means

(A) a person empowered by a patient to assert the confidentiality of communications or records which are privileged under sections 52-146c to 52-146i, inclusive, or
(B) if a patient is deceased, his or her personal representative or next of kin, or
(C) if a patient is incompetent to assert or waive his privileges hereunder, (i) a guardian or conservator who has been or is appointed to act for the patient, or (ii) for the purpose of maintaining confidentiality until a guardian or conservator is appointed, the patient’s nearest relative;
(2) “Communications and records” means all oral and written communications and records thereof relating to diagnosis or treatment of a patient’s mental condition between the patient and a psychiatric mental health provider, or between a member of the patient’s family and a psychiatric mental health provider, or between any of such persons and a person participating under the supervision of a psychiatric mental health provider in the accomplishment of the objectives of diagnosis and treatment, wherever made, including communications and records which occur in or are prepared at a mental health facility;
(3) “Consent” means consent given in writing by the patient or his authorized representative;
(4) “Identifiable” and “identify a patient” refer to communications and records which contain (A) names or other descriptive data from which a person acquainted with the patient might reasonably recognize the patient as the person referred to, or (B) codes or numbers which are in general use outside of the mental health facility which prepared the communications and records;
(5) “Mental health facility” includes any hospital, clinic, ward, psychiatric mental health provider’s office or other facility, public or private, which provides inpatient or outpatient service, in whole or in part, relating to the diagnosis or treatment of a patient’s mental condition;
(6) “Patient” means a person who communicates with or is treated by a psychiatric mental health provider in diagnosis or treatment;
(7) “Psychiatric mental health provider” means a physician specializing in psychiatry and licensed under the provisions of sections 20-9 to 20-12, inclusive, an advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 378 who is board certified as a psychiatric mental health provider by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a person licensed to practice medicine who devotes a substantial portion of his or her time to the practice of psychiatry or a person reasonably believed by the patient to be so qualified.

Conn. Gen. Stat. ยง 52-146d

(1961, P.A. 529; 1969, P.A. 819, S. 1; P.A. 75-567, S. 36, 80; P.A. 82-160, S. 64; P.A. 89-154, S. 2.)

Amended by P.A. 19-0098,S. 24 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2019 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2019.

Case decided before effective date of statute. 150 C. 689. Cited. 152 C. 510, 512. Psychiatrist-patient privilege does not extend to records relative to drug-dependency treatment. 169 Conn. 223. Psychiatric-patient privilege not waived and testimony of psychiatrist hired by state, but not as a result of court order, held inadmissible. 178 C. 626. Purpose of statutory privilege is to protect a therapeutic relationship; communications that bear no relationship to the purpose for which privilege was enacted are admissible subject to normal rules of evidence. 190 Conn. 813. Cited. 191 Conn. 453; 199 C. 693; 201 C. 211; 203 Conn. 641; 208 C. 365; Id., 683; 211 Conn. 555; 212 C. 50; 217 C. 243; 218 C. 85; 219 C. 314; 223 C. 450; 225 C. 700; Id., 450; 228 C. 1; 235 C. 185; 236 C. 625; 238 C. 313. Statute reflects public policy against suit by patient’s former spouse. 250 C. 86. Evidence of conversation between defendant and third party overheard by mental health worker not protected by privilege provided for under section. 254 C. 694. Medical and dental records created during a patient’s inpatient treatment at a mental health facility are mental health records exempt from disclosure under Sec. 52-146e. 318 C. 769. Cited. 1 CA 384; 14 CA 552; 19 CA 304; 24 Conn.App. 287; 25 CA 653; judgment reversed, see 223 C. 52; 30 CA 839; 33 CA 253; Id., 647; 35 CA 94; judgment reversed, see 235 Conn. 185. Subdiv. (2): Communications and records relating to diagnosis and treatment of an alcohol-related disorder falls within ambit of a “mental condition”; phrase “including communications and records which occur in or are prepared at a mental health facility” interpreted as an illustrative application of phrase “wherever made”, not as a limitation on its scope; therefore, trial court improperly concluded that plaintiff was required to establish that treatment facility located in Maine was a mental health facility as defined in Subdiv. (5) as a condition precedent to invocation of statutory psychiatrist-patient privilege. 54 CA 663. Nursing assessment containing consent form in which defendant consented to “mental health assessment and treatment” and conducted by nurse under supervision of psychiatrist is a mental health record that is privileged under Secs. 52-146d to 52-146f. 73 CA 150. Cited. 28 CS 57.