Oklahoma § 12-2503 - Physician and Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege

§ 12-2503. Physician and Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege

A. As used in this section:

1. A “patient” is a person who consults or is examined or

interviewed by a physician or psychotherapist;

2. A “physician” is a person authorized to practice medicine in

any state or nation, or reasonably believed by the patient to be so

authorized;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 12. Civil Procedure

3.

A “psychotherapist” is:

a.

a person authorized to practice medicine in any state

or nation, or reasonably believed by the patient to be

so authorized, while engaged in the diagnosis or

treatment of a mental or emotional condition,

including alcohol or drug addiction, or

b.

a person licensed or certified as a psychologist under

the laws of any state or nation, or reasonably

believed by the patient to be so licensed or

certified, while similarly engaged; and

4. A communication is “confidential” if not intended to be

disclosed to third persons, except persons present to further the

interest of the patient in the consultation, examination or

interview, persons reasonably necessary for the transmission of the

communication, or persons who are participating in the diagnosis and

treatment under the direction of the physician or psychotherapist,

including members of the patient’s family.

B. A patient has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to

prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications

made for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of the patient’s

physical, mental or emotional condition, including alcohol or drug

addiction, among the patient, the patient’s physician or

psychotherapist, and persons who are participating in the diagnosis

or treatment under the direction of the physician or

psychotherapist, including members of the patient’s family.

C. The privilege may be claimed by the patient, the patient’s

guardian or conservator or the personal representative of a deceased

patient. The person who was the physician or psychotherapist at the

time of the communication is presumed to have authority to claim the

privilege but only on behalf of the patient.

D. The following shall be exceptions to a claim of privilege:

1. There is no privilege under this section for communications

relevant to an issue in proceedings to hospitalize the patient for

mental illness, if the psychotherapist in the course of diagnosis or

treatment has determined that the patient is in need of

hospitalization;

2. Communications made in the course of a court-ordered

examination of the physical, mental or emotional condition of a

patient, whether a party or a witness, are not privileged under this

section when they relate to the particular purpose for which the

examination is ordered unless the court orders otherwise;

3. The privilege under this Code as to a communication relevant

to the physical, mental or emotional condition of the patient in any

proceeding in which the patient relies upon that condition as an

element of the patient’s claim or defense or, after the patient’s

death, in any proceeding in which any party relies upon the

condition as an element of the party’s claim or defense is qualified

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 12. Civil Procedure

to the extent that an adverse party in the proceeding may obtain

relevant information regarding the condition by statutory discovery;

4. When the patient is an inmate in the custody of the

Department of Corrections or a private prison or facility under

contract with the Department of Corrections, and the release of the

information is necessary:

a.

to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to

the health or safety of any person, or

b.

for law enforcement authorities to identify or

apprehend an individual where it appears from all the

circumstances that the individual has escaped from a

correctional institution or from lawful custody; or

5. The testimonial privilege created pursuant to this section

does not make communications confidential where state and federal

privacy law would otherwise permit disclosure.

Added by Laws 1978, c. 285, § 503, eff. Oct. 1, 1978. Amended by

Laws 1980, c. 113, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1980; Laws 2002, c. 468, § 33,

eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2003, c.390, § 10, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws

2004, c. 168, § 5, emerg. eff. April 27, 2004; Laws 2009, c. 241, §

1, eff. Nov. 1, 2009.