Medical Privilege and Divorce

The medical privilege normally prevents a party from having to disclose conditions regarding their health.  However, pursuant to Rule 503 of the rules of evidence, when a party places their condition in issue, the privilege is waived.  This gets into a complex area.  Arguably, any time a divorce or custody case is filed, the party is waiving privilege.  Health of a party is a factor in both custody cases and divorce cases for the court to consider.  The law in Mississippi has not developed too much in this area.  For some analysis on the issue in the custody context, take a look at Culbertson v. Culbertson from Tennessee located here.  This deals with the psychologist privilege under Tennessee law but can give you some ideas on how to argue both sides of the case.