United States District Court, C.D. California
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, a public trust corporation, on behalf of University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Plaintiff,
v.
CIGNA HEALTHCARE OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a California for profit corporation; CIGNA HEALTH & LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Connecticut for profit corporation; and DOES 1 THROUGH 25, INCLUSIVE, Defendants.
LAW
OFFICES OF STEPHENSON, ACQUISTO & COLMAN, INC. JOY
STEPHENSON-LAWS, ESQ. RICHARD A. LOVICH, ESQ. (SBN 113472)
KARLENE ROGERS-ABERMAN (SBN 237883) DAVID F. MASTAN, ESQ.
(SBN 152109) JIN HEE PARK, ESQ. (SBN 309941) Attorneys for
Plaintiff THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, a
California constitutional corporation, on behalf of the
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE MEDICAL CENTER
Kenneth R. Pedroza (SBN 184906) Joshua C. Traver (SBN 229778)
Alysia B. Carroll (SBN 303136) COLE PEDROZA LLP CIGNA
HEALTHCARE OF CALIFORNIA and CIGNAHEALTH & LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY
PROTECTIVE ORDER
JUDGE
AUTUMN D. SPAETH U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, a California
constitutional corporation, on behalf of the UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA, IRVINE MEDICAL CENTER (“UCI” or
“PLAINTIFF”) and Defendants CIGNA HEALTHCARE OF
CALIFORNIA and CIGNAHEALTH & LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
(“DEFENDANT”) having stipulated to the matters
herein, the Court hereby orders that all confidential
documents or information produced in this case shall be
subject to the terms and provisions that are set forth
herein:
I.
Definitions
The
following definitions shall apply to this order:
A.
“Confidential
Information” is information that is not
in the public domain and contains employee information,
financial data, or information that may reasonably be
characterized by the producing party as intellectual
property, a trade secret, or confidential or proprietary
information, including, but not limited to, internal business
communications, customer lists, price lists, pricing data,
financial information, market studies, business plans,
computer software and programs, and sales and marketing
materials. To be considered Confidential Information, a
document must be designated “Confidential” as set
forth in Section III, infra.
B.
“Attorneys' Eyes
Only” shall mean a subset of Confidential
Information that contains, constitutes, reveals, or reflects
trade secrets or highly personal information or other
information of a high degree of commercial sensitivity and/or
information that would provide a competitive advantage to the
producing party's competitors if disclosed.
C.
“Case” shall refer to
the above-captioned matter.
D.
“Confidential Health
Information” shall constitute a subset of
Confidential Information, and shall mean information supplied
in any form, or any portion thereof, that identifies an
individual or subscriber in any manner and relates to the
past, present, or future care, services, or supplies relating
to the physical or mental health or condition of such
individual or subscriber, the provision of health care to
such individual or subscriber, or the past, present, or
future payment for the provision of health care to such
individual or subscriber. By way of example, Confidential
Health Information may be found in medical bills, claims
forms, claim data, grievances or appeals, charge sheets,
medical records, medical charts, test results, notes,
dictation, invoices, itemized billing statements, remittance
advice forms, explanations of benefits, checks, notices, and
requests, as well as any summaries or compilations of the
information contained in these documents, to the extent that
such summaries or compilations themselves include
Confidential Health Information. Confidential Health
Information is intended to encompass all “protected
health information” as such term is defined by the
Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health
Information, 45 C.F.R. part 160.103, promulgated pursuant to
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(“HIPAA”), as well as any patient health
information protected by state law. Designating information
as Confidential Health Information does not alleviate a
party's obligation to otherwise comply with applicable
privacy laws, including HIPAA.
E.
“Covered Entity” shall
have the meaning as such term is defined by the Standards for
Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, 45
C.F.R. part 160.103, promulgated pursuant to HIPAA.
F.
“Documents” shall mean
all originals, copies, and non-identical copies, however
produced or reproduced, of any printed, typed, handwritten,
graphic, electronic or otherwise recorded matter of whatever
character, including, but not limited to, files,
correspondence, contracts, agreements, memoranda, notes,
forms, diaries, reports, communications, statements,
transcripts, affidavits, photographs, audiotape or videotape
recordings, motion pictures, email, computer files, and any
other Documents and electronically stored information
contemplated by California Evidence Code section 250 and
California Code of Civil Procedure section 2016.020. Nothing
in this definition shall be interpreted to require the
parties to produce more than one copy of identical ESI or to
produce the same ESI in more than one form.
G.
“Legend” as used herein
shall mean a stamp or similar insignia stating
“CONFIDENTIAL” or other appropriate term or terms
connoting the confidentiality of the document. When any
document is designated “CONFIDENTIAL” pursuant to
this order, the legend shall be affixed to each page of
documents produced in TIFF format and to the file name of
documents produced in native format.
H.
“Producing Party” shall
mean any party to the case, or any other person or entity
producing documents, information, or other materials in the
case, including any Covered Entity.
I.
“Parties” collectively
shall mean and include Plaintiffs and Defendant.
J.
“Party” shall mean any
of the parties.
II.
Scope Application of This Protective Order
This order shall govern all Documents, testimony, and other
information and materials that contain Confidential
Information and are produced in response to any discovery
conducted by any Party to the Case. Further, this order shall
govern all Documents and materials containing Confidential
Information that are submitted in connection with a pleading,
brief, or other Document filed in this Case, whether
submitted to the Court or formally exchanged between the
Parties. In addition, this order shall govern all
Confidential Information produced by any Producing Party,
including without limitation a Covered Entity, in response to
any discovery conducted by any Party to the Case. The Parties
shall be able to disclose Protected Health Information for
the purpose of prosecuting or defending this action,
including any appeals of this case. (See 45 C.F.R. §
164.512(e).)
III.
Confidential Information Designation
Procedure
Any
Confidential Information (including Confidential Health
Information) may be designated by the Designating Party as
“Confidential” or “Attorneys' Eyes
Only.” A Designating Party may designate Confidential
Information as “Attorneys' Eyes Only” if the
Designating Party believes in good faith that the
Confidential Information contains, constitutes, reveals, or
reflects trade secrets or highly personal information or
other information of a high degree of commercial sensitivity
and/or information that would provide a competitive advantage
to its competitors if disclosed.
Confidential
Information will be designated as “Confidential”
by the Producing Party in one or more of the following ways:
(1) information contained in any Document or part thereof may
be so designated by marking the word
“CONFIDENTIAL” and/or “ATTORNEYS' EYES
ONLY” on the Document or any copy of it delivered to
the Parties or their counsel or by giving written notice to
the counsel, describing the Document or part thereof either
specifically or by category, as provided in Sections VII and
IX of this order; and (2) a Party may designate information
contained in an answer to any question asked during an oral
deposition as Confidential within 30 calendar days of receipt
of the deposition transcript by underlining the portions of
the pages that are confidential and stamping such pages
“CONFIDENTIAL” or specifying on the record at the
deposition or up to thirty (30) calendar days after receiving
a deposition transcript, that the entire transcript, or
portions thereof, shall be treated as Confidential as
provided in Section VIII of this order.
IV.
Individuals To Whom Disclosure of Confidential
Information is Permitted; Conditions of
Disclosure
Confidential
Information shall not be used by a Receiving Party for any
purpose other than in connection with this Case. This
Protective Order shall not prevent a Producing Party from
disclosing its own Confidential Information to any person for
any purpose.
Except
as otherwise provided in this order, a Receiving Party's
disclosure of a Producing Party's Confidential
Information to the following persons is permitted under the
scope of this order:
A. The
Parties, including their current employees who are necessary
to assist counsel in this Case; the Parties' inside
counsel, if any, and employees of the Parties' inside
counsel who are acting under the direction and control of
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