by Janet Edelman, AMI of Maryland
[Summer 1997; Vol. 24 No. 2]
Relatives of a person with mental illness must deal with a very stressful situation if the ill relative is committed to a hospital without the knowledge of the family. It is extremely difficult for the family to determine what has happened to the relative, even if they suspect that he has been hospitalized. The Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Maryland is taking steps to inform professionals of the Maryland law that addresses this situation. The law provides some relief for family members. Letters concerning this law have been sent to all psychiatric hospital directors with the assistance of the Department of Mental Hygiene and the Maryland Hospital Association, Core service agency directors were also contacted via the Maryland Association of Core Service Agencies.
Section 4-307 (Disclosure of mental health records)(g)(iv) of the Maryland Code states:
Health, safety, and protection of recipient or others. -- A health care provider may disclose a medical record without the authorization of a person in interest: .... (iv) If a health care provider is a facility as defined in 10-101 of this article, the facility director may confirm or deny the presence in the facility of a recipient to a parent, guardian, next of kin, or any individual who has a significant interest in the status of the recipient if that individual has filed a missing persons report regarding the recipient;
If you are in a position to assist a family in locating a relative, please encourage them to file a missing person report with the police as soon as possible. If you are in a facility and are approached by a family searching for their relative, please refer them to the director of your facility so that the relative's presence can be confirmed or denied.