The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) can limit cause of death information sought through public records requests.

According to Court News Ohio, a statewide database of dead Ohioans with their names and addresses associated with their cause of death is not available via a public records request because it contains "protected health information."

The Supreme Court voted 5-2 to reject the claim of former Columbus Dispatch Randy Ludlow reporter who was seeking cause of death information from ODH during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ODH did provide Ludlow with spreadsheets with vital information from death certificates including sex, age and cause of death, but did not provide the names and addresses of those who died.

Justice Patrick Fischer stated in the majority opinion that ODH rightfully determined that the names and addresses of the deceased paired with other medical information would constitute protected health information.

Ohio Revised Code Section 3701.17 prohibits the release of protected medical information without the explicit consent of the individual the information pertains to.

Ludlow argued that this only applies to the information of the living and the information of deceased individuals is not protected. However, the court disagreed.

"We see no reason to limit the definition of 'individual' 'living individual' when the statute does not make that distinction," Justice Fischer said.

Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, along with Justices Patrick DeWine, Melody Stewart and Joseph Deters all joined Justice Fischer's opinion.

Justices Jennifer Brunner and Michael Donnelly disagreed with this opinion, however, stating that information provided by local health departments must be public records because under another state law, anyone can obtain the entire death record by visiting their local vital statistics department.

"In short under [ORC section] 3705.231, all that is needed to access and copy a death record that presumably contains information regarding the deceased individual's name, address and cause of death ... is to ask and it shall be permitted," Justice Brunner said.