Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) won't release the pre-fight medicals for Kimbo Slice or DaDa 5000 after winning an appeal to the Attorney General to prevent them from going public.
Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson), who died from congestive heart failure on June 6, 2016, won the Bellator 149 contest over DaDa 5000 (real name Dahfir Harris) by knockout in the third round back in February. However, the result was later changed to a "no contest" because Slice tested positive for nadrolone. Harris nearly lost his life after suffering kidney failure and a heart attack after the bout in which he collapsed and needed to be taken out on a stretcher and immediately to a hospital.
According to the TDLR, competitors over the age of 36 are required to undergo both and EEG (electroencephalography) and EKG (electrocardiogram) to be cleared for a mixed martial arts (MMA) bout. Ferguson was 42 and Harris was 38 at the time of the bout.
According to a report from BloodyElbow.com, who sought the pre-fight medical information through a Private Information Act request to clarify if both contestants were indeed healthy enough to compete that evening, TDLR informed them they were appealing to Attorney General Ken Paxton to keep the information confidential.
They received the following response:
"TDLR has filed a request with the Texas Attorney General's Office for a ruling regarding the confidentiality of Mr. Ferguson's medical records. TDLR asserts that the information found in Mr. Ferguson's medical records are still confidential even after death, under the Texas Public Information Act. TDLR is requesting that the Attorney General make a ruling on TDLR's claimed exceptions. A copy of the request to the Attorney General's Office is attached."
In the request to the Attorney General, the report states that the TDLR argued the medical records of both Harris and Ferguson were "confidential under multiple provisions of state law." The TDLR also stated those records contained protected health information, which would be in accordance to the definition of the Texas Medical Records Privacy Act (MRPA).
The request to the TDLR to release the medical information on Harris and Ferguson was ultimately rejected as the Attorney General ruled in favor of the TDLR. Bloodyelbow.com obtained a copy of the letter from the office of the Attorney General, which came from Attorney General Assistant Kavid Singh, which said the following:
"Upon review, we find the information we have marked constitutes records of the identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by a physician that were created or are maintained by a physician. Accordingly, the department must withhold the marked medical records under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with the MPA."