ABSTRACT
One of the fundamentals of medical practice is the ability to record and make use of information about patients in the interests of their treatment. The ability to record and use such information is a privilege which is subject to certain basic limitations prescribed by law. Unless some agreement to the contrary has been made between the doctor and patient, private medical records belong to the practitioner who creates and controls them rather than the patient who is the subject of those records. If the doctor has left a will, the persons named therein as the executors of his estate or personal representatives have a duty to distribute the doctor's property, including the records of his private medical practice, in accordance with the terms of the will. Private practitioners are entirely at liberty to decide how long they wish to keep records of their patients.
