Rule 26.3.Exchange of medical records and timing of expert disclosure in medical malpractice actions.

Rule 26.3 speeds up a piece of discovery that comes up in nearly every medical malpractice case: the plaintiff's medical history. Within 5 days after a defendant answers or otherwise responds to the complaint, the plaintiff must serve copies of all available medical records relevant to the condition at issue, along with a signed authorization letting the defendant obtain the same records directly from the source. Within 10 days after that, each defendant must serve its own copies of the plaintiff's relevant medical records on the plaintiff and every other party. If a defendant later obtains additional records using the plaintiff's authorization, it must share any records that no one has produced yet with everyone else in the case, at its own expense. The parties can agree to narrow what records get exchanged under this rule.

The rule also levels the playing field on expert timing. Rather than letting one side disclose its standard-of-care and causation experts first and tailor a response, the parties must disclose the identities and opinions of those experts at the same time, unless they agree otherwise or the court orders a different sequence for good cause.