Judge's ruling favors Globe in Steward complaint

A Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that Steward Health Care System has no right to review the reporting or records collected by The Boston Globe for a yet-to-be-published article about a man's journey through the mental health care system. Judge Jeffrey Locke said the for-profit health care company may comment broadly to the newspaper and answer limited questions on the patient's care without violating medical privacy laws. Steward, in a suit filed against the Globe Wednesday, asked the court to permit release of the patient's private medical records, which the company said it needed to rebut a Globe story that is scheduled to be published this weekend.