Lost medical records

[midniterose]

What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? North Carolina
But the state the doctor is in is Georgia.

This is a little complicated, the doctor that my son saw for all of his immunizations is no longer practicing medicine, all of his records went to another doctor. When I call this new doctor to get my 5 year old son's records they informed me that they could not find them. I need those records because they show when he recieved his immunizations, otherwise he will have to have them all again before I can enroll him in school. My questions is, can I then sue the doctor for losing said medical records, resulting in the pain and suffering of my son having to go through his shots again?

Thank you

 

[JackSchroder]

You may not be able to sue that doctor who is now custodian of your son's medical records. You might write directly to him and ask him to have his office check again. Keep in mind that he did not look for the records but some girl in his office did, and she may not have cared to work on it too hard. Medical records like any other records can be misfiled
If this does not work, then get the telephone number of the retired doctor, or if he is dead, his wife, and ask him/her if they can help you. I have had luck finding old medical records in a doctor's garage long after he died. Those records of your son have to be somewhere.
Another thought. The doctor who has them now may have put them in storage. The storage company may be able to help
You are right to be concerned about your child's safety in this day of vaccinations and immunizations that are improperly administered, manufactured or stored. Keep after this.
You might also ask the medical society this former doctor belonged to if they can help. They may know of other places the records could be stored. His office should have notified the association about his records and their disposal.
If else fails, ask a malpractice lawyer, or his investigator, what they can do to help. The law is quite clear that a minor's records must be maintained at least to the age 18, in some states, 21.

 

[midniterose]

Thank you for your reply. I have been in contact with the office manager of the doctor who now holds the records, by phone for almost three weeks now, she knows how important it is for me to have these records. Today I have called twice trying to get them to go look for them in storage. Not once has she called me back to let me know anything. In fact I have the feeling she is dodging my calls. When I called today she refused to even speak with me. I would go down there myself but it is a 7 hour drive and not cost effective right now for me. I am at my wits end, I really need those records and barring threatening them with legal action I don't know what else to do. I thank you again for your response.

 

[ellencee]

Jack--help me think on this one, please. What's the name of that place where a copy of everyone's medical records is kept? I believe the costs of obtaining a copy is about $10.

Was the child ever hospitalized or enrolled in daycare?

The hospital's records should have a statement about the child's immunizations and may have a copy of the immunization record, though it probably just states the immunizations the child has had and a statement that all are current. That statement in the records should be sufficient for the current physician to issue an immunization statement that all immunizations are current up to that date.

Daycare should have a copy of the immunization records.

If the child was ever on Medicaid, then the health department in the appropriate county may have a record of immunizations. Medicaid will have the dates, the immunization given, and the charges on file.

Give the physician's office a break! It may take half a day or more to search through boxes of records to find these. Calling repeatedly won't make the employees more inclined to search, either. Your waiting until the end of July before school starts in less than three weeks doesn't create an emergency for them; it created one for you!

Pull out your baby book on this child or however you kept his childhood 'keepsakes' and look for growth charts from the physician and immunization records from the time of the office visit. The current physician can use these to establish proof of immunization.

Best wishes,
EC

 

[midniterose]

I have given the doctors office a break. Also I have not waited until the end of July, this has been an on going process since May. It has just taken me this long to track down the doctor who had taken over the previous doctors patients and records. Plus, they should have had them in alphabetical order, so it should have only taken them at most a week to find. I called them on June 30th, plenty of time to get his records and update his shots. The hospital has none of these records, the only one who does is his doctor. i have tried to find the address or phone number for the previous doctor, but had no luck there. It is only since last week that I have become impatient. My son has never attended preschool or day care and he recieved all of his shots at the doctors office. I am sorry if I am coming off a little mean and uncaring of what office personnel go through, but that is not the case. My position is that they are supposed to have these records and be able to find them in a reasonable amount of time. After the first initial call on the 30th, I waited a week and a half before contacting the office manager, who I have spoken with a few times. It was only till this week that I have become annoyed and concerned that they still have yet to find my childs records. Not only do I need them for his shot record, he had to see a specialtist when he was a toddler and our current doctor needs that information.
I thank you for your response and advice.

 

[ellencee]

Who was the specialist that your child saw? Wouldn't he have records? (I ask because pediatricians, whether specialists in another area or not, usually make notes regarding the status of immunizations.)

How long has it been since your child was seen by his previous physician, the one who closed his office?

 

[midniterose]

I don't recall the specialist at the moment, but I will look into it and see if he has them.

And it has been less than two years.

 

[ellencee]

I'm thinking that if the child has had no immunizations in the past two years and is now entering school (preschool? kindergarten? first grade?) that he is in need of some immunizations and boosters of other immunizations.

You should be able to have him receive any immunizations normally given to 4 and 5 year-olds and those required at the time the child enters school.

If the child's immunizations were paid for by insurance of any kind, they will have the records.

FYI--you can not imagine what a mess it will be to find your son's medical records from the prior physician. If you had requested that the records be sent to you from the new physician, or to any physician on your behalf, then the record would have been easily available. After two years (or was that the specialist?), those records are going to be most difficult to locate and not an easy task at all. I'm trying to help you locate some kind of authentication of the administration of the immunizations. We're going to have to brainstorm to find a quick and suitable answer!

I know each vaccine is recorded somewhere in a central location, based on pharmaceutical companies that provide the immunizations, as well as in public health records. The info in the central location will take too long to even consider it as a viable option. How about the local health department, even if your child wasn't seen at that health department. Have you asked if they maintained a record?

 

[midniterose]

Yes and they don't, they were the second ones I called when I found out the records couldn't be found.

Thank you for all the advice. I am going to call the insurance company and the specialist in the morning.

 

[JackSchroder]

No central repository for medical records exists. The Feds have been talking about setting up such a service for years, and maybe one day in this age of computers someone will devise a simple storage for such records. That is a long way off.
The lady who is asking for help has about as much as any of us can offer. The County Medical Society where the original doctor practiced should have information about his transfer of medical records to storage or to another physician. A doctor can not just toss the records into his recycling bin. A minor's records are usually kept until the age of consent, whatever that is in his state.

 

[ellencee]

Ah, but there is a place that has a copy of every medical visit (the info and dates) and it does cost about $10 for a copy. I'll see if I can find the name, address, and phone number. I have it somewhere in my notes and I've seen it on the web! Big brother has been watching all along.

 

[MDNafts]

Call the CDC

National Immunization Hotline (800)232-2522 There is a registry that tracks any vaccine a child receives. This phone # may be it or they may be able to help you locate that service. At the very least you would be able to get the shot record.

 

[cbg]

And evidently MDNafts did not notice that THIS post was over a year old.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

And evidently MDNafts did not notice that THIS post was over a year old.

A lot of that going around lately

 

[ellencee]

When I recently answered a post that was 5 months old, I didn't look at the date; it appeared second on page 1 of that section of Family Law. How embarrassing!

I still think there may be a tech problem with the site.

EC