Texas - Legal Reasons For Sealing Medical Records - Please Help

[williamsonworld]

I am in need of advice so please help. Back on March 26th, I posted a question asking what legal reasons there are for sealing medical records. Details are in that post but the jist is that we recently found out that medical records for our fathers surgery were sealed and we were under the impression that that meant that there was some sort of legal action taken but, as it turns out, we, as his blood decendants have no rights to get to them and his widow has refused to help us.

 

[Tracey]

Medical records start out sealed and you have to have a court order to unseal them without the patient's permission. This is because medical records are created under the doctor-patient priviledge. The priviledge encourages patients to be completely honest with their MDs and to seek medical care for embarrassing problems. Society thinks this is good.

When someone dies, their executor has the power to waive the priviledge, but does not have to do so. Unless you think you have a wrongful death suit or have reason to believe you inherited some medical condition that can only be confirmed by accessing dad's records, you won't get a judge to unseal them for you. Curiousity is insufficient.


Tracey

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.