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Re: medical examiner records



You might want to see how death records come under new HIPAA regulations.   Even
though you're not a health care provider, I would think that this kind of
personal health information would have to remain confidential, despite the death
of the individual.  The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(HIPAA) was passed as Public Law (PL 104-191) on August 21, 1996, and it covers
standards and regulationsts for the maintenance and transmission of all health
information that can be linked to the identification of a single individual.

According to HIPAA, health information is any uniquely identifiable health or
demographic information  whether oral or recorded in any form or medium and is:
A) "Created or received by a health care provider, health plan, public health
authority, employer, life insurer, school, university, or healthcare claims
clearinghouse, and is B) Related to past, present, or future physical or mental
condition of an individual, the provision of care to an individual, or the past,

present, or future payment for provision of care to an individual."

I would be very careful with any of this physician's records, and get a legal
opinion in writing before making them available yourself.

I'd be interested in reading others' opinions on these records.

Lesley W. Brunet, CA
Archivist and Manager, Historical Resources Center
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas

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