§ 12-21-6 — Copy of Hospital Records - Subpoena Duces Tecum; Inspection; Form; Weight

Alabama § 12-21-6

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 12: Courts
• Ch. 21: Evidence and Witnesses
• Art. 1: General Provisions
• Div. 1: Evidence

Text

(a) A certified copy of said hospital records may be procured by any litigant in any court of competent jurisdiction in the state by subpoena duces tecum, and when any such subpoena duces tecum is issued for said hospital records, the custodian of said hospital records shall prepare a copy of said hospital records as provided in this subsection and securely seal the same in an envelope or other container and date and fill out and sign a certificate in substantially the form provided in Section 12-21-7 and place on, or securely fasten said certificate to the outside of, said envelope or container in which said copy of said hospital records are placed and deliver the same to the clerk or register of the court hearing, or to hear or to try, the case or proceeding in which the records are sought, and he shall not otherwise be required to appear in court unless thereafter ordered to do so by the court. The copy of the hospital records shall not be open to inspection or copy by other persons than the parties to the case or proceeding and their attorneys until ordered published by the court trying the case at the time of the trial. When so prepared and certified, the copy of said hospital records shall be admissible in evidence in any court in the state, if and when admissible, in prima facie proof of the facts therein shown just as if otherwise verified and just as if the copy were the original. The copy of the hospital records may be photostated, photographed or made by microphotographic plate or film, or otherwise made, so long as clear and easily legible. All the circumstances of the making of such hospital records, including lack of personal knowledge of the entrant or maker of such hospital records, may otherwise be shown to affect the weight of such hospital records, but this shall not affect their admissibility.
(b) Repealed by Acts 1994, No. 94-609, p. 1124, §3.

Legislative History

(Acts 1965, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 77, p. 102, §2; Acts 1994, No. 94-609, p. 1124, §3.)