ADVERTISEMENT



Google       
Call (866) 635-2689 for a free Personal Injury evaluation by attorney in your area.

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Personal Injury Law Blogs -> Bodily Injury Blog

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Bookmark

Personal Injury Law

: Bodily Injury Blog

Its Often a Struggle to Gain Access to Medical Records

By Edward Bills

ADVERTISEMENTS
Often it  is a struggle to determine why someone died in a hospital while being treated, regardless of the reason for the treatment and often, when the records are finally released it is too late under state law to file a civil lawsuit. The problem reflects a common complaint nationwide by patients and their families: It can be difficult to obtain medical records from hospitals and other treatment facilities after something goes wrong.

Under federal law, every patient or a designated representative has the right to see and copy the patient’s medical records. However, missing or disputed records are the most common source of complaints.

Although there are no statistics on such cases, disputes over medical records often are at the crux of malpractice lawsuits. Such claims often center on records that patients or their families believe were purposely withheld by hospitals.

The federal law that gives patients and family members access to medical records is the privacy section of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act.

HIPAA allows health care providers to withhold records in some circumstances, as long as they explain why they are doing so. Among the records that may be withheld: psychiatric documents and documents generated in preparation for a legal action.

Thousands of Americans simply give up the fight to get complete copies of their medical records after a problem occurs with their care, because doctors, hospitals and their lawyers can make the process so difficult.

Even when records are provided, they sometimes are obscured.

Full post as published by Bodily Injury Blog on May 08, 2008 (boomark / email).

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.
Related Law Articles

National Practitioner Data Bank Fact
NPDB identifies unprofessional healthcare practitioners

Military Veterans Benefits
How to obtain full range of benefits for veterans and dependnets

Military Veterans Benefits, Part 2
Training, Healthcare, and Death Benefits

Lawsuits and Settlements

Medical Records
To Stay out of Pharma's Hands

Getty Images
Faces Class Action over Premium Access

Microsoft Corp.
allegedly failed to provide adequate access and service to Xbox Live and its subscribers.

Disability Access
Developers pay $175,000 settlement for failing to comply with the Fair Housing Act.

Access Roads
Developer Bob Honts agrees to $250,000 property development settlement.

Medical Technology
Ventana Medical Systems Inc. pays CytoLogix Corp. $49 million patent infringement settlement.

Related Searches

























































































































US Law
#1 Online Legal Resource













Your Blog Subscriptions
Subscribe to blogs

10,000+ Law Job Listings
Lawyer . Police . Paralegal . Etc
Earn a law-related degree
Are you the author of this blog? Adding USLaw.com to your Blogroll increases relevance. You qualify to display a USLaw Network badge.
Suggest changes to this blog's description or nominate another for inclusion. Register for updates.


Practice Area
Zip Code:

Contact a Lawyer Now!






0.0025 secs (from cache 10/31/26 10:25:33)