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Patient Access To Medical Records In Washington, James M. Madden

Washington Law Review

Patients have traditionally had no right of access to their own medical records. Patients' access to their mental health records has been especially restricted. Recently, however, a number of jurisdictions have enacted legislation granting patients access to their medical and mental health records. In addition to this legislative trend, the Washington Supreme Court recently interpreted the state's Public Disclosure Act as creating a right of patient access to public hospital records. Part I of this Comment evaluates the desirability of allowing patients a general right of access to their medical and mental health records. While this Comment finds that there …