Visiting judge grants order to release medical records in Alvin woman's suit against Beltone

GALVESTON - A qualified protective order was entered into an Alvin woman's personal injury lawsuit against Beltone and a host of businesses, recent court records indicate.

Visiting Judge David E. Garner signed the order on Dec. 11, allowing plaintiff Waldine Geraci and the entities she brought the suit against to produce or obtain her health information from Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and other healthcare providers.

Geraci sued Beltone last May in response to a hip injury she reportedly sustained at one of its area stores two years ago, alleging the incident occurred when she tripped and fell on the last step of the store premises as she was about to enter her vehicle.

Insisting she did nothing to cause the event in question, the plaintiff asserts the strip mall in which the business is located has a handicap ramp that is “not easily noticeable” and an apparent lack of signs.

The original petition was revised twice with the most recent instance including more respondents.

Last month, a relative of Geraci serving as her next friend and the defendants filed a joint motion requesting the aforementioned protective order on grounds the former does not have medical power of attorney, which prompted the Medical Center's refusal to release the claimant's medical records.

A jury trial is scheduled for 9 a.m., Aug. 11, 2014.

Case No. 13-CV-612