DMC hospital request being challenged

A lawyer for Detroit Receiving Hospital is challenging a subpoena filed by an attorney for the family of slain exotic dancer Tamara Greene seeking any possible records of her treatment there.

Patricia Leonard, an attorney for the hospital, said in an objection Tuesday that the subpoena filed Dec. 9 by Birmingham attorney Norman Yatooma is overly broad and violates medical privacy laws.

Leonard said the hospital needs more specific information about Greene before it could look for any records.

The hospital would be willing to try to help if the search request is more narrowly crafted, Leonard said.

Greene’s family claims in a federal lawsuit that Detroit officials conspired to thwart the investigation into Greene’s April 30, 2003, drive-by slaying, which remains unsolved. Greene was rumored to have danced at a never-proved party in fall 2002 at the Manoogian Mansion.

There is no evidence that Greene was ever treated at Detroit Receiving or any hospital.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has produced records to the Free Press indicating Yatooma checked Detroit Receiving Hospital records in 2008 and learned that Greene had never been treated there. Yet, Cox said, Yatooma continues to contend that Greene was taken there.

Monica Wilkinson, another attorney for the hospital, told the Free Press: “We will comply with any legal obligation,” but that the hospital must first make sure it has the correct patient and authorization.

Yatooma also filed a similar subpoena last week for records at Sinai-Grace Hospital, and Leonard issued the same objections. Both hospitals are part of the Detroit Medical Center.