By Stacey England
In the realm of personal injury claims, medical records are paramount to proving your claim. They will be used as key evidence in your legal proceeding to show the extent of your injuries and the impact the accident has had on you.
Detailed medical documentation also helps establish the link between the injuries you sustained and the accident. It assists in determining the severity of your injuries and the impact the accident has had on your day-to-day life.
While the disclosure of your medical records, especially psychological records, may feel invasive at times, every party to the action (both Plaintiff and Defendant) must disclose every document or record in their possession that may be relevant to the proceedings, even if it hurts your case.
The question of relevance is always a point of contention between the Plaintiff’s counsel and the Defendant’s counsel. At a minimum, the Plaintiff will need to disclose their family doctor’s records going back at least five years before the accident, as well as the records of any other treatment providers they may have seen during that window of time. However, these records can be redacted for unrelated and irrelevant medical illnesses.
In a recent case, Phillips v. Timmons, 2025 NSSC 269, the court held that the Plaintiff’s medical records relating to an accident years prior were relevant. Fifteen years earlier, the Plaintiff was hit by a car in a crosswalk and suffered knee pain that required treatment. The Plaintiff’s counsel argued she had sustained a soft tissue injury and had made a complete recovery by the time the second accident occurred. Given her complete recovery, it was argued these records were not relevant; however, the court did not agree and held that the full context of these records must be disclosed to help determine causation and damages from the present accident.
While the records were ordered to be disclosed in the above case, the courts still recognize that Plaintiffs have the right to privacy and autonomy over their personal medical records. It’s always best to follow your lawyer’s guidance when consenting to the disclosure of your personal medical records. At Burchell MacDougall, we take care of requesting all your medical records and ensuring only relevant records are disclosed to the Defendant’s lawyer.
Given the significant role your medical records will play in your litigation, it is imperative that you be direct, honest and detailed with your medical providers about any symptoms you are experiencing and to follow their medical advice.
This article is for information only and is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions or would like further information, you should consult a lawyer.
