Baltimore, MD – The Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission recently noted that pursuant to Labor & Employment Article § 9-311, Commission subpoenas may be used only to compel a witness to attend, give testimony and produce documents or records at a Commission hearing or, in very limited cases, at deposition (a deposition may only be taken to perpetuate testimony and not for discovery purposes). See Md. Code Ann., Labor & Empl. § 9-719. See also Md. Rule 2-510.
As in the usual civil practice, a party may elect to permit the subject of the subpoena, particularly a custodian of records, to produce the subpoenaed documents or records to the requesting party prior to the scheduled hearing, and, thus, avoid compulsory attendance at the hearing. Such a request may be made by cover letter attached to the subpoena.
Parties are encouraged to use the mandatory medical authorization/release to obtain relevant medical records when possible.
With regard to a Subpoena of Medical Records, practitioners must comply with Health General Article § 4-306 and give notice to the patient of an intent to subpoena medical records and provide a copy of the subpoena. If there is any dispute or objection to the production of the medical records, an Objection (WCC Form H-08/OTS) must be filed with the Commission no later than 30 days from the date of Notice.
Updated forms are posted on the Commission’s Forms & Instructions page.
Source: MD WCC