Brende v. Hara - Hawaii Supreme Court Case No. 27964 (November 26, 2006) is a landmark decision under Hawaii law protecting the privacy of litigants who must reveal their medical history in order to pursue claims against wrongdoers in court. In Brende, the Hawaii Supreme Court put the individual citizen's interest in protecting the confidentiality of their medical records ahead of the "big business" interests of giant insurance companies in warehousing medical records to use that information whenever and however they might see fit. The court found that a personal injury plaintiff in Hawaii is generally entitled to a Protective Order by the trial court requiring that none of the plaintiff's protected health information obtained from any source in a civil action shall be disclosed or used for any purpose outside of the civil action without the plaintiff's explicit written consent.
Some accidents happen and the victims don't know who hit them. In such cases, a negligent driver can sometimes be found through law enforcement, video cameras, and investigation. See, Woman Settles for $3 Million After Being Run Over by School Bus. In addition, in other cases, the injured parties may be able to pursue insurance coverages that are designed to fill in such gaps - such as Uninsured Motorist Insurance and/or Underinsured Motorist Insurance.
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Martindale Hubbell - AV rated lawyer - Best Rating Possible
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