Melancon threw out the lawsuit, saying the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act does not block officers from getting information about a crime, and noting that the officers had obtained a warrant for Maier's arrest, meaning that a judge had found probable cause for the charge. He said that provides protection against accusations of false arrest.
It seems like everyone got caught in the machine, here. The police certainly needed to respond to the domestic violence call, and the patient's privacy was protected. In some states the domestic violence laws are strict enough that the cops would not have been allowed any discrection. But even though the charges were dropped, no one ever is edified by being escorted out of their place of employment in handcuffs.
Reading between the lines, I suspect this may have been a motivator:
Maier's attorney, Paul Marx, said Maier was far from the only person who told police that they could not give them the woman's name, but may have been the most vocal.
*Thanks for catching the typo, Jason!
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