State laws restrict access to ancestors’ psychiatric records, reformers seek change
The Story
Family members in New York and other states have been unable to obtain the psychiatric records of deceased ancestors, citing a need for family medical history. Reform efforts have led to policy changes in Massachusetts and Washington, but progress elsewhere has been slow. A New York state senator has introduced a bill to designate records of patients deceased 50 years or longer as historic records exempt from privacy protections.
Key Facts
- New York state allows psychiatric records to remain sealed “in perpetuity,” according to a statement from the New York Office of Mental Health.
- Records can be released to patients and immediate family members, but generally not to more distant descendants.
- Massachusetts passed a new law in 2025 making public state hospital records that were at least 75 years old, plus records for people dead at least 50 years.
- A federal law (HIPAA) protects health information for 50 years after a person dies.
- Ohio law allows the closest living relative of a deceased patient to request information from state mental health facility records, and records can be requested by anyone 50 years after death.
- Maine offers fairly easy access to records dating back 50 years.
- In the 1950s, at the peak of institutionalization in America, more than 500,000 people were in state hospitals.
- Historical records show reasons for admission ranged from “brain fever” and “grief and anxiety” to “laziness,” “religious excitement,” and “desertion by husband.”
- Dr. Laurence Guttmacher, former clinical director of the Rochester Psychiatric Center, said staff took extensive notes, photographs, and other materials.
- Records at some facilities were likely damaged, destroyed, or lost through the years, but Guttmacher said a lot of information still exists.
Conflicting Reports
No conflicting reports identified in the source article.
Still Unclear
The exact number of states with restrictive policies is not specified. The total volume of surviving psychiatric records from state hospitals remains unknown.
Misconceptions
No widespread misconceptions addressed in the source article, though the article notes that while records at some facilities were likely lost, a significant amount still exists.
Key Figures
- Debby Hannigan, great grandniece of a patient who tried to access records
- Doug Clarke of Alfred, New York, who sought records of a great-grandfather
- Dr. Laurence Guttmacher, former clinical director of Rochester Psychiatric Center
- Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- Alexandra Lord, historian writing a book about suicide in her family
- Alex Green, member of a Massachusetts commission that discussed state institutions’ history
- state Sen. Pat Fahy, Democrat from the Albany area, who introduced a bill in New York
- Ryan Thibodeau, St. John Fisher University researcher
Sources: abcnews.com
