Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Access to medical information

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #31
    I would send everything together. Perhaps at the end of your letter indicate that you will be contacting them shortly to set up an appointment to discuss your concerns and obtain answers to your questions.

    Everything gets put in the patient file for doctor to review. The less paper-shuffling doctor has to do the better.

    Comment


    • #32
      date:

      from: your name address, contact info

      to: doctors name address, contact info

      Dear Dr. Hillson,

      My name is Joe Marcollian and I am Christopher Stars' father. I would like to set up an appointment to meet and discuss my son's health. I wish to be given a copy of his medical record at that time.

      Please let me know the next available date/time (reword this however you want)

      Respectfully,
      Joe
      (sign here)

      Fax it to the doctor from a post office or Staples. keep a copy of the letter and fax confirmation. Call to follow up. document everything. If you don't hear back within 2 weeks or if they refuse to give you the records, bring a motion, and attach the letter and fax confirmation in your exhibit. The doctor may or may not ask for consents. If they ask for consents, send a a letter or email to mom before you bring a motion:

      I am sending you a sample consent letter. Our son's doctor requires this before releasing me his medical record. Please sign and return to me.

      If mom ignores you, or if the doctor refuses to release even with mom's consent, bring a motion. The doctor won't hire a lawyer to respond and certainly won't show up to court to say they're not giving you the information about your son. You will get the records. If the doctor is actually ridiculous enough to show up and push back in court, ignore it and don't let it bother you. If they lie, correct them. There is not much they can lie about really. I don't think a doctor would. The courts will order the records and slam the doctor with costs if the doctor opposes your motion. No lawyer will go on record for the doctor to oppose medical records to your son. Most certainly not a family law lawyer. If the other parent and his/her lawyer opposes the medical records, the court will order it and slam them with costs as well - what do they have to hide?
      Last edited by trinton; 12-20-2016, 06:14 PM.

      Comment


      • #33
        Thanks for that sample, trinton! I meant to thank you sooner but once that letter was sent, my daughter was off school for the holidays and I wanted to stay focused on her.

        I'm still awaiting a response from the psychiatrist's office as well as my ex and the therapist regarding the phone conference I requested. In the letter I faxed to both the psychiatrist and therapist, I still requested a face to face meeting, but suggested a phone conference if they preferred.

        Also, to clarify - yes, my ex appears to be and claims in her briefs that she has been cooperating with me and "trying" to include me in medical decisions. However, I have numerous emails sent over the last year (perhaps 2 years) asking her for medical information and contact information for our child's physicians. I only end up finding out about what my child was diagnosed with through the CC/SC/TM briefs she sends to me. For example, I found out our child was diagnosed with ADHD in January 2015 in a CC brief sent to me in May of 2015. It was not until September of 2016 that she provided me with contact information for the professionals who have seen or treated our child - and only because I was insisting that our child's issues were intensifying and that we need to seek counselling for her. My daughter's "issues" seemed to intensify shortly after summer break ended. When she stayed at my house over the summer, she behaved well (for the most part) and slept long and peacefully. Roughly 2 weeks after returning to her mother's for the start of the school year, she was barely sleeping through the night and was constantly getting into trouble at school.

        After several emails back and forth from September to October of 2016, my ex continued to refuse the counselling suggested by me and our daughter's teacher (who supported the idea when I brought it up to her). I was told a few weeks later by my ex that she has decided to put our daughter on medication to treat her ADHD, although she doesn't quite believe that it is ADHD she suffers from. Having been provided with no details other than this, I decided to contact the psychiatrist to make an appointment so I could learn more about what was happening. This was the appointment I mentioned in an earlier post that was cancelled by my ex. This appointment was then opened up again - with the invitation extended to me, which I gladly accepted. Unfortunately, the appointment was postponed to the one and only date I could not attend - due to my exam schedule.

        This brings us (roughly) to the present time. She has submitted a TMC brief claiming that I have been "interfering" with her parenting and decision making. She is also requesting to file a form for an uncontested trial, because a contested trial would cause undue hardship on her as a single mother with 3 children - though she fails to mention that 2 of the "children" are well over 20 years old. As ludicrous as her claims sound, there's still a small part of me that is nervous about the outcome of our TMC in 2 days. My legal aid lawyer essentially removed himself on record as counsel before fulfilling all of the orders set out by a previous judge. We were warned that if the orders were not fulfilled as outlined, that there could be consequences in the form of an uncontested trial for my ex. I've since completed everything that was asked of my ex-lawyer, except for one that was completed after the deadline. I don't know how it typically turns out in this situation, but I'm hoping and praying I get the chance to move forward to a trial.

        I apologize for the incredibly long post. Thank you to everyone who has offered input and information so far - this forum been more helpful than any other resource I've come across.

        Comment


        • #34
          My personal opinion on diagnoses of ADHD is that it is often a "bucket" disorder which hard-to-control children are labelled as having. Please do keep us up-to-date if one of the professionals you are seeking an appointment with will actually corroborate this diagnosis.

          For this reason I think you will have difficulty in getting an appointment. However, I do admire your tenacity. Until the appointment you should perhaps do some reading up on ADHD. I am not a physician nor do I imply that I have any professional insight into this. I'm merely a parent who at one time was given many pseudo-diagnoses by unqualified people.

          Comment


          • #35
            Contact the college of physicians and surgeons and ask them how to address the issue.

            Per this policy you have every right to access the child's medical record (in Ontario).

            Policy Number:#4-12
            Policy Category: Administrative
            Under Review: No
            Approved by Council: November 2000
            Reviewed and Updated: September 2005, November 2006, May 2012
            College Contact: Physician Advisory Service

            Ask them kindly why this policy is not being enforced by the clinician. Generally, they will call to educate the clinician because a complaint to the college triggers practice insurance. That clinician's practice insurance will go up. They want to avoid that at all costs.

            Comment


            • #36
              Doctors will give him information but one has to wonder if the father is sincere in making, and keeping, an appointment to receive the information. I'm sure the doctors will, at a very minimum, provide a summary report.

              Comment


              • #37
                Originally posted by arabian View Post
                Doctors will give him information but one has to wonder if the father is sincere in making, and keeping, an appointment to receive the information. I'm sure the doctors will, at a very minimum, provide a summary report.
                Its an odd situation. Uncontested trial request from the other parent? It will fail. So long as this parent is present for the trial. They never order them when the other parent is present and participating in the matter.

                I suspect there is way more to the case than what has been provided as well.

                Comment

                Our Divorce Forums
                Forums dedicated to helping people all across Canada get through the separation and divorce process, with discussions about legal issues, parenting issues, financial issues and more.
                Working...
                X