|
Greeting Margaret,
My brother James just passed away in Northway of kidney
failure. He worked on the Exxon oil cleanup project in
1989. He didn't have kidney problems when he left for
Alaska around 1987.
Is
there anything you could learn for his body I could let
my mother know, Jim was never married?
Jerry |
|
Very sorry to hear this
Did he have a personality
change after this work?
What job did he have?
Did he have fatigue?
What was his temperature in the
last months?
Did he have memory loss?
It would be helpful to have a copy of his medical
records ...
Nurse chart notes, etc.
|
|
| "As someone who has worked in medical records; I would
advise you not to ask for medical records. For one thing, there is
a federal law regarding privacy of medical records that is very
strict and no one will give them to you. I would even hesitate to
repeat on the internet what the family tells you verbally. This is
what makes proving liability of EXXON so hard. Even dead, patients
have a right to their privacy." |
| What if the next of kin give permission? |
| "If the next of kin consent and disclose information;
then I think it is alright to repeat what they say. Medical people
have the option to disclose information to family or close friends.
Both State and Federal laws require privacy of health information
of Medical services. They may disclose health information for three
things: treatment, payment, and to other health care operators. In
addition, the patient can authorize the disclosure of his/her health
records to anyone he/she chooses. It is one of the first forms you
get at any doctor's office. It is up to the physicians judgment in
what they think they can disclose to others who are friends or
relatives not directly involved." |