State of Washington v. Alderwood Surgical Center LLC

1 The Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE STATE OF WASHINGTON, NO. 2:22-cv-01835-RSM 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO SEAL THE DECLARATION OF JAMES SANDERS IN 11 v. SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS’ OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 12 FOR FEES AND COSTS FOR ALDERWOOD SURGICAL CENTER, LLC, a DEFENDANTS’ FAILURE TO COMPLY Washington limited liability company; WITH THE COURT’S DISCOVERY NORTHWEST NASAL SINUS CENTER P.S., ORDER AND EXHIBIT 1 THERETO AND a Washington professional service corporation; ORDER TO SEAL and JAVAD A. SAJAN, M.D., NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: 16 Defendants.

Monday, November 13, 2023 I. INTRODUCTION Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 5(g), above named parties jointly move the Court for an order to permit the Declaration of James Sanders in support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Fees and Costs for Defendants’ Failure to Comply with the Court’s Discovery Order, and Exhibit 1 thereto to be filed and maintained under seal, because these documents contain protected health information (“PHI”) subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-191, and the Washington Uniform Health Care Information Act (“UHCIA”), RCW 70.02.

1 II. LEGAL STANDARD 2 For non-dispositive motions, the public’s right to access to records filed before a court yield if there is a “good cause.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180 (9th Cir. 2006).

5 III. ARGUMENT 6 Medical records are properly filed under seal because they “contain[] sensitive personal health information protected” from disclosure by HIPAA. Cont’l Med. Trans. LLC v. Health Care Serv. Corp., No. C20-0115-JCC, 2021 WL 2072524, at *4 (W.D. Wash. May 24, 2021); see also Karpenski v. Am. Gen. Life Cos., LLC, No. 2:12–cv–01569RSM, 2013 WL 5588312, at *2 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 9, 2013). The declaration and exhibits contain protected information of patients of Defendants, and therefore implicate HIPAA, UHCIA, and their protections. See 45 12 C.F.R. § 164.508(a)(1) (not listing litigation as an exception to the general rule that authorization is required before public disclosure of protected health information); see also RCW 70.02.

15 IV. LCR 5(g) CERTIFICATION 16 Pursuant to LCR 5(g), prior to filing this motion, counsel for the parties met and conferred via email on November 13, 2023. The parties agreed to jointly move the Court to maintain the declaration and exhibits under seal to prevent the public disclosure of protected health information. The parties agree that there is no option short of sealing to protect this sensitive personal information.

21 V. CONCLUSION 22 For the reasons listed above, the Court should grant the parties’ stipulated motion to file and maintain under seal the Declaration of James Sanders in support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Fees and Costs for Defendants’ Failure to Comply with the Court’s Discovery Order, and Exhibit 1 thereto.

1 DATED this 13th day of November, 2023.

2 I certify this memorandum contains 365 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

PERKINS COIE LLP 5 By:/s/ James Sanders James Sanders, WSBA #24565 6 Tiffany L. Lee, WSBA #51979 Cara Wallace, WSBA #50111 Perkins Coie LLP 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 9 Seattle, Washington 98101-3099 (206) 359-8000 10 [email protected] [email protected] 11 [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants Alderwood Surgical 13 Center, LLC, a Washington limited liability company; Northwest Nasal Sinus Center P.S., 14 a Washington professional service corporation; and Javad A. Sajan, M.D.

Robert W. Ferguson 17 Attorney General 18 By:/s/ Matthew Geyman Matthew Geyman, WSBA #17544 Camille M. McDorman, WSBA #53036 20 Zorba Leslie, WSBA #58523 Alexandra Kory, WSBA #49889 21 Bret Finkelstein, WSBA #48845 22 Assistant Attorneys General Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000 Seattle, WA 98104 24 (206) 464-7744 25 Attorneys for Plaintiff State of Washington 1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the above stipulation, the Court hereby ORDERS that the Declaration of James Sanders in support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Fees and Costs for Defendants’ Failure to Comply with the Court’s Discovery Order, and Exhibit 1 thereto shall be filed and maintained under seal.

6 DATED this 7th day of December, 2023.

A RICARDO S. MARTINEZ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Presented By: PERKINS COIE LLP By:/s/ James Sanders, WSBA #24565 Tiffany L. Lee, WSBA #51979 Cara Wallace, WSBA #50111 Perkins Coie LLP 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 Seattle, Washington 98101-3099 (206) 359-8000 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants Alderwood Surgical Center, LLC, a Washington limited liability company; Northwest Nasal Sinus Center P.S., a Washington professional service corporation; and Javad A. Sajan, M.D.

1 Robert W. Ferguson Attorney General By:/s/ Matthew Geyman, WSBA #17544 Camille M. McDorman, WSBA #53036 Zorba Leslie, WSBA #58523 Alexandra Kory, WSBA #49889 Bret Finkelstein, WSBA #48845 Assistant Attorneys General Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 464-7744 Attorneys for Plaintiff State of Washington