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| Avoiding Liability Bulletin |
May 2008, Volume 1 |
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by Richard S. Leslie, J.D. Click here for profile.
Attorney at Law - "At the Intersection of Law and Psychotherapy"
Records - Destruction at the Request of the Patient?
… Some states may not have a law that specifies
the length of time that patient records must be maintained, but may leave it to
the discretion of the practitioner and perhaps applicable ethical standards.
Many states, however, do have laws that specify the length of time that patient
records must be kept by a therapist or counselor. Do these laws provide for any
discretion by the practitioner to comply with the wishes of the
patient/consumer for early destruction? Suppose that a high profile patient
shares with his or her therapist information of a highly personal or
embarrassing nature. Suppose further that after the passage of three years from
the time of termination, the patient asks the practitioner to destroy the
records in order to protect his or her privacy. If the practitioner agrees to
do this, is it permissible? What if the practitioner decides to write a summary
and destroy the more revealing full record and the patient agrees? Is this
permissible? Something to think about and check out!
Printable Versions: [ Download WORD.doc ] [ Download Acrobat.pdf ]
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