In a ruling last Thursday, the Iowa Supreme Court decided that an Iowa couple will not be able to have access to their adult daughter's physical and mental health records.

Prior to Thursday's decision, the couple was denied visitation with their grandson. The district court had ordered the woman to turn her physical and mental health records over to her parents to give them the opportunity to show the court she wasn't fit to make the visitation decision.

The couple's daughter had made the decision not to allow her grandparents visitation with her 6-year-old son after she separated from her husband during the course of their divorce.

According to sources, the records included notes and reports from counseling sessions at a sexual assault and domestic violence center as well as a 2008 court commitment file.

On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the decision on the grounds that the records were protected under the woman's constitutional and statutory right to privacy. In support of its decision, the court noted the daughter's progress since separating herself from her family.

Under a recent change in Iowa law, grandparents may only petition for visitation where their own child has died, making the parent's petition moot from the start. Nevertheless, the court ruled on the case in order to highlight the importance of protecting the privacy of patient medical and mental health records.

Missouri law provides a number of circumstances in which a court may grant grandparents visitation rights. In its determinations, courts take into account whether visitation is in the best interests of the child.

Source: Des Moines Register, "Ruling protects daughter's medical records," Grant Schulte, 31 Dec 2010.