My mother passed away a few days ago. I was her POA and her advanced health care director. I made a request through proper channels for her medical records over a month ago. When I finally got them they had been illegally edited by a unit manager in the CCU dept. What she deleted was ALL wound pictures and information I requested while my mother was in ICU. And when I finally got the records and found they were edited 2 hours before I got them. I called the recs dept asking where is the information I requested? Recs dept said they should all be there. She asked her manager and the manager said that I can get them after discharge and doctor signs off. So I was denied and I wasn't given a denial letter so I could appeal. I read the law regarding the information I requested and I had legal right because my mother was moved to a new level of care. The ICU record was then closed and a new one started for CCU where she was. Then 2 days later my mom died. Now I am being denied the unlawfully deleted records I had requested while alive. Is this legal? I am being told I have to show proof of next of kin? Or death certificate? I do not have the death certificate because I haven't been able to afford anything as far as cremation. My mom was wiped out financially by a sibling.
You should be able to provide proof of being your mom's daughter/next of kin, especially if you were her POA, where your relationship would be clearly stated on that document. Plus, a death certificate gets issued regardless of how the funeral arrangements are handled or not handled, ie: burial or cremation. You can also make a direct request from the local vital records office. It can take anywhere from two to four weeks to get a certified copy of a death certificate.
Many states and counties even offer online requests through the government-endorsed VitalChek network, which even allows you to check the status of your application form.
In order to request a copy, you’ll need to show valid government-issued photo identification (ex. driver’s license or birth certificate) and documentation showing your relationship to the person whose certificate you are requesting. (For example, if the decedent is your spouse, you could show your marriage certificate as proof.)
Each state determines the processing fee for getting copies of the death certificates. There may also be extra fees associated with requesting a copy online or for postage.
I wish you the best of luck getting all this straightened out, and also arranging for your mother's funeral.
Was a Funeral Home in charge of the cremation? If so, you should be able to get a copy thru them. They don't cost that much.
I assume that because you're requesting your mom's records, you're going to go for some kind of medical malpractice case, but know that they are extremely difficult to prove, take years, and cost a fortune up front. An attorney MAY take the case on contingency (he gets paid when the case is settled), but everything else has to be paid for up front, such as depositions (about $250/hour), expert medical witnesses (closer to $1,000/hour), filing fees at the courthouse, and myriad other expenses that'll run your well into the tens of thousands of dollars before you ever see the inside of a courtroom.
Your mom can be cremated at a place that only does cremations, not a funeral home, and it'll cost significantly less. I'm sure you can work out a payment plan. My dad was cremated at a funeral home in 2018 and it was $2600. When my mother died last year, I had her taken to a cremation-only facility that didn't conduct funeral services and only sold urns beyond the cremation. Total cost -- $775. Both places process the death certificate information, and the certificates cost about $24 each here in California. My experience is that you need only one copy no matter what the funeral place tells you. Anyone who wants a copy can make a photocopy of the original and give it back to you.
I don't know if you're looking to go the route of the lawsuit, but if you are, I implore you to forget it and focus on what matters. The chance that you have a case is very, very slim.
BUT both articles deal with YOUR OWN medical records. Perhaps you will still see some useful information.
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/medical-records/index.html
= Article on Your Medical Records
https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-correct-medical-record-errors-2615506
= Article on How to Correct Errors in Your Medical Records
Good luck. I'm sorry about the death of your mother.
A Subpoena Duces Tecum would be issued, and served by a professional process server (definitely not someone in the family). Wording would be similar to this:
"Any and all records, notes, photos, assessments...." was similar to what was requested. The goal was to include "any and all" data.
On what do you base your assumption of "illegal editing?" How did you word your request, or did you fill out a form provided by the Records Dept. of a hospital?
Given the apparent lack of cooperation at some levels, perhaps you should consider hiring a MedMal attorney, just to order the records. The hospital HAS to comply with a Subpoena Duces Tecum.
You wrote that you have attorneys who are very interested. Did any of them volunteer to get the medical records for you? Or did they require execution of a retainer agreement before doing so?
Are you listed as executor on any will that might have been left by your Mom?
In most instances even the live patient will not be easily be "given" access to these records. Or they will be allowed "access" to the records, but the and their records must remain on facility premises with no interpretor allowed to explain records or how to go through them.
As a nurse I am telling you only how it worked for my own California Hospital some time ago; I hear things have improved, and I recently easily got record of my own surgery.
It is a whole different ballgame when an attorney is involved. They will get access to records with their own "expert" if they believe there is a large enough suit possible to make it worth pursuing (and few qualify today).
You say that you cannot afford cremation costs. Have you informed the funeral establishment of this? Have they been able to connect you with anyone who can help work out payment costs plan?
Your only recourse here now, if you suspect malpractice, is taking your case with all the proof and diaries and dates and names you can muster to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer. Today a case has to be huge to be accepted or a case that is a class action because the normal recovery makes it not worth the time of an attorney and the attorney's experts to even begin exploration. But if you have a very clear case you may get an attorney who will then have access to records as your representative.
I am so sorry you are going through this. Do know that it is very likely that there is little you can do here other than try to find a way to get simple cremation done for your Mother. Hospitals and other establishments in medical "industry " have powerful and well paid attorneys on contingency and can well afford to prevent a "little guy" from maneuvering.
I (POA) got my mother’s medical records very easily from a private hospital. (But my mother is alive.) My mother signed a hospital paper, asking me to pick up the records. (We got a printed version; not digital). The records looked fine to me - but I must add, that my amateur eyes would have no way of knowing whether anything was deleted. But also - we didn’t have any bad experience with the hospital, we just wanted the records anyway.
I hope OP, your lawyers can help you!