Physician-Patient Relationship: The Permissibility of Ex Parte Communications between Plaintiff's Treating Physicians and Defense Counsel, The

Ex parte interviews of nonparty witnesses are commonly used by attorneys in determining whether witnesses have sufficiently valuable information to warrant taking their deposition or using their testimony at trial as well as in actually preparing witnesses to testify. In the Brandt cases, the Missouri Supreme Court permitted ex parte communications between a plaintiffs physicians and defense counsel. This Note will examine the reasoning behind the court's decision and compare the Brandt decision to various approaches taken by other jurisdictions to resolve the apparent conflict between the physician-patient relationship and informal discovery methods such as ex parte communications.