Partner Ben Fenton’s representation of Dr. Alwin Carl Lewis in the landmark case of Lewis v. The Superior Court of California was covered in Jodie Tillman’s Kaiser Health News article “California High Court To Consider Limits on Regulators’ Access to Prescription Database.” After Dr. Lewis recommended a diet plan for a prospective patient, the patient reportedly considered the proposal “unhealthful” and filed a complaint with the Medical Board. In response, the Board obtained Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) reports on Dr. Lewis, eventually placing him on probation for three years after concluding that he had over-prescribed controlled substances to two of his other patients. As lead counsel in the case, Ben represented Dr. Lewis in his appeal, asserting that there was no reason to review CURES reports on other patients, and that it was a violation of the patients’ constitutional right to privacy. Ben and the firm’s position that the state’s medical board breached patient privacy has received outside support from the American Medical Association (AMA).
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