New York Court of Appeals
Matter of Reclaim the Records v. New York State Dept. of Health
May 22, 20252025 NY Slip Op 03102
Summary
The Court of Appeals held that DOH must disclose the death-index fields it already publishes online for deaths from 1957 through 2017 because DOH failed to establish a statutory or privacy exemption. It upheld withholding medical history, cause of death, interment location, and burial, cremation, or anatomical-gift information as an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, and determined that DOH adequately responded regarding pre-1957 records. The court remitted the matter for in-camera review and further determinations concerning other indexed fields.