The Medical Records Act states that unless a patient is a minor, medical records, laboratory and X-ray reports must be kept at least five years (see §4-403 below).
Code, Health-Gen. § 4-302. Section 4-302 - Confidentiality and disclosure generally (a) A health care provider shall: (1) Keep the medical record of a patient or recipient confidential; and (2) Disclose the medical record only: (i) As provided by this subtitle; or (ii) As otherwise provided by law.
Health care providers are required to disclose medical records within a reasonable time, but no more than 21 working days after the date a person in interest requests the disclosure.
Under Maryland's common law doctrine of informed consent, a “mentally competent adult” is entitled to give or withhold consent to medical treatment after receiving a fair and reasonable explanation of the proposed treatment.
The public's right to information about government activities lies at the heart of a democratic government. Maryland's Public Information Act (PIA) grants the people of this State a broad right of access to public records while protecting legitimate governmental interests and the privacy rights of individual citizens.
A custodian shall deny inspection of a hospital record that: (1) relates to: (i) medical administration; (ii) staff; (iii) medical care; or (iv) other medical information; and (2) contains general or specific information about one or more individuals.
Section 20-102 - Treatment for health-related problems (a) A minor has the same capacity as an adult to consent to medical or dental treatment if the minor: (1) Is married; (2) Is the parent of a child; or (3) (i) Is living separate and apart from the minor's parent, parents, or guardian, whether with or without ...
The informed consent process involves three key features: (1) disclosing to potential research subjects information needed to make an informed decision; (2) facilitating the understanding of what has been disclosed; and (3) promoting the voluntariness of the decision about whether or not to participate in the research.
In Maryland, the age of consent is 16 which means anyone under that age is not legally considered to be able to give consent to have sexual intercourse, regardless of whether they say they want to or regardless of how old they look.