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Attorney General Ken Paxton Secures Settlement with Memorial Hermann Health System to Ensure Parental Access to Children’s Medical Records
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured an agreement with the Memorial Hermann Health System (“MHHS”), which has committed to adopt a new digital program to ensure parents have full access to their children’s medical records.
In 2022, the Office of the Attorney General opened an investigation into MHHS for possible misrepresentations regarding parental access to children’s medical records. MHHS’s website suggested that state law barred them from providing parents with certain adolescent medical records. The Office of the Attorney General determined that, instead, it was MHHS’s own technological limitations that accounted for the restriction.
To resolve this, MHHS has agreed to implement a new digital program that will allow parents full access to their children’s medical records. Until that program becomes available, MHHS’s website will provide clear instructions to parents on how they can obtain their adolescent children’s medical records.
This agreement notes: “MHHS further voluntarily assures the State that it will continue to ensure open and transparent parental access in accordance with Texas and federal law to their adolescent Child’s medical records.”
“This settlement represents the major progress my office has made to ensure parents’ rights are protected in an era where medical decision-making has become painfully politically charged,” said Attorney General Paxton. “By achieving this agreement, we have ensured the best possible outcome for Texas families.”
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