Thornburg v. El Centro Regional Medical Center 143 Cal. App. 4th 198 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006)

Thornburg v. El Centro Regional Medical Center

The plaintiff requested medical records, and the hospital charged $2 per page. Plaintiff objected, citing California Evidence Code § 1158, which provides that a medical provider can charge no more than ten cents per page. Plaintiff then filed a class action alleging that the hospital systematically violated the limitation of charges. The hospital argued that section 1158 could not be enforced in a private civil action. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. On appeal, the court found that the limitation on charges could be enforced directly by patients and reversed the trial court.