Do I have a right to my surgery video?
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Do I have a right to my surgery video?
A doctor is refusing to provide the video taken for my arthrascopic surgery on my ankle. Do I have a right to this video? I know it exists, as I watched him view it on a follow-up visit.
Asked on August 15, 2016 under Malpractice Law, Delaware
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
No, the video is the doctor's (or hospital's, etc.) property; they do not need to provide it to you unless and unit you file a lawsuit, the video is relevant to the lawsuit (e.g. it's a malpractice suit about your ankle) and in the course of that suit, you use proper legal process (e.g. a subpoena; a "document" production request [videos are "documents" for this purpose]) to get it. Only if legal process is correctly used must they provide it, so if you are thinking about suing, you have to sue *first* to be able to get the video; you can't review the video the decide whether to sue.
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