Abdelrahman v. Hon. martin/mesa, 1 CA-SA 17-0065

Mother sued Mesa Unified School District after a district bus rear-ended a car she and her 12-year-old son were in; Son was not a plaintiff and Mother did not seek damages for his injuries.
Pre-suit notices sought settlement amounts for Mother and Son; the case went to compulsory arbitration due to the amount in controversy.
At deposition Mother testified her own recovery and treatment were limited because she had to care for her sick son after the accident.
The District sought Son’s medical records, arguing Mother put Son’s medical condition at issue and thus waived the physician–patient privilege.
An arbitrator and the superior court ordered disclosure; Mother appealed via special action to the Court of Appeals challenging implied waiver.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Mother impliedly waived Son's physician–patient privilege	Mother: she did not place Son's medical condition at issue; a nonparty child's privilege cannot be forced to be waived by a parent's personal injury claim	District: Mother's testimony that her care/treatment was affected by Son's injuries put Son's medical condition at issue, so privilege was waived as to those records	Court: No implied waiver. A parent cannot unilaterally waive a nonparty child's privilege when the child is not a plaintiff and the parent does not seek recovery for the child's injuries

Green v. Nygaard, 213 Ariz. 460 (App. 2006) (special action is proper to challenge compelled disclosure of privileged material)
Rasor v. Northwest Hosp., LLC, 239 Ariz. 546 (App. 2016) (existence and scope of evidentiary privileges reviewed de novo)
Bain v. Superior Court (Mills), 148 Ariz. 331 (1986) (implied waiver when a privilege holder places a particular medical condition at issue)
Duquette v. Superior Court (Lamberty), 161 Ariz. 269 (App. 1989) (parents who included their minor son as a plaintiff and sought his medical damages impliedly waived the child's privilege)