Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania

Re: Entitlement to medical information

Your question is covered by Pennsylvania�s Patient's Bill of Rights.

This information is generally posted outside of every doctor�s office, and distributed to patients when they are admitted to a hospital. You can find this by an Internet search.

The relevant sections are as follows:

(8) The patient has the right to full information in layman's terms, concerning his diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, including information about alternative treatments and possible complications. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information shall be given on his behalf to the patient's next of kin or other appropriate person.

(15) The hospital shall provide the patient, or patient designee, upon request, access to all information contained in his medical records, unless access is specifically restricted by the attending physician for medical reasons.

In general, a patient as opposed to a �family member� is the person entitled to confidential medical information, which belongs to the patient.

A �family member� becomes �entitled� to medical information when the patient �designates� a family member to receive information because that is their preference, or because they are �incompetent� because of disability or in the case of a minor.

This question falls outside of the area of �medical malpractice�.

However, occasionally when health-care providers appear secretive about medical information, this raises a red flag suggesting that there is a reason that they are hiding information.