Britney Spears Team Asks the Court to Keep Her Medical Diagnosis and Treatments Private
By Mike Walters on July 24, 2019 at 6:46 AM EDT
Britney Spears and her conservators are pleading with the judge in her case to keep all of her medical information, and specifics of her treatment, private from the public.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, the lawyers who represent Britney and her father have asked the judge in her conservatorship case to seal transcripts from the last hearing held in a Los Angeles County courtroom.
As we reported, much of what was discussed in that hearing was specifics about Britney's current medical condition, and ongoing treatments.
TheBlast.com
The pop star had just entered a live-in facility for mental health, after we are told doctors and her team wanted to go through her medication and whether or not she should be taking certain things.
It was reported that Britney stopped taking some medications and new medications were being implemented. We broke the story that Britney's condition had gotten so bad, she was forced to cancel her latest Las Vegas residency.
TheBlast.com
In the hearing, the judge in her conservatorship case called to go over some of these issues and specifics about her business and her children were discussed. As always, a transcript was taken of all that was said and ordered in court.
The issue is that the transcript was inadvertently not sealed after the hearing finished. According to the docs, "the transcript contains private information that relates to and reveals details relating to Ms. Spears' private health information, attorney-client privileged information, personal and private information relating to Ms. Spears and her minor children, as well as Ms. Spears' trade secrets and proprietary information."
It continues, "The public has no right to access Ms. Spears' private medical information which is per se confidential and protected pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"), personal and private information relating to Ms. Spears and her minor children which also is per se confidential, or Ms. Spears' proprietary information and trade secrets. The public's interest in access is satisfied here because the public has had and will continue to have access to the numerous other pleadings filed with this Court in this matter."
TheBlast.com
One obvious importance here is the fact that a movement has started on social media to #freebritney. The people behind that push believe that she is being held or treated for mental illness against her will. Her team believes the movement is simply a reaction of bitter ex-management.
Britney's team is clear it would be very harmful to the pop star if this information is released, saying, "Unless the transcript is sealed, details relating to Ms. Spears' private health and medical information revealed in the Transcript will unquestionably be widely disseminated, harming Ms. Spears."
In the court documents, Britney's lawyers say the transcript not being sealed was simply a mistake and the right thing to do would be to seal it.
