The biomedical researcher and subpoenas: judicial protection of confidential medical data.

An increasing number of medical researchers are being subpoenaed to testify or to supply records in cases in which they have not agreed to become involved as expert witnesses. The researchers' published works are alleged to have formed the basis of the opinions of physicians testifying as expert witnesses in these cases. Although the courts usually protect confidential medical data, the considerable burden of quashing these subpoenas is still imposed upon researchers and their universities. This Article argues that courts should protect these research records from subpoenas.