Pre-trial hearing held in damage lawsuit against hospital

The production of records remains a dispute in a civil lawsuit against Oconee Memorial Hospital still awaiting trial after three years.  At a motion hearing today, Circuit Judge Scott Sprouse ruled that the plaintiff, identified in court records as a Jane Doe, is entitled to seek to compel the hospital to produce records related to her treatment in December 2015.  The plaintiff’s lawyer wants those records to help prepare her client’s case which alleges the hospital failed to follow proper procedures when the woman presented herself to be treated for a sexual assault.  That assault was alleged to have been committed after the Oconee County woman attended a dance in Atlanta, Georgia.  After hearing from both plaintiff’s and defense attorneys, Judge Sprouse suggested that part of the problem in failing to satisfy the plaintiff’s quest for treatment records may be due to a change in the hospital’s electronic medical records system.  At dispute in the original case pleadings is whether there was a break in the evidence chain of custody between the hospital and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.