In North Carolina, when a chiropractor's patient was previously imaged at a public hospital, can the chiropractor get access to those existing diagnostic X-rays for treatment, or does the hospital get to refuse and force the chiropractor to take new images?

Plain-English summary

A North Carolina legislator asked whether a chiropractor could review a patient's diagnostic X-ray records held by a hospital that received public aid or support. The AG answered yes under G.S. 90-153 as amended in 1977. The statute said a licensed chiropractor "shall have access to diagnostic X-ray records and laboratory records relating to the chiropractor's patient." The AG said this included access to the X-rays themselves.

The opinion identified three apparent purposes of the amendment: avoiding unnecessary health-care costs, preventing unnecessary radiation exposure, and enabling chiropractors to engage fully in chiropractic practice. It did not compare their access to physicians' access or decide questions about other hospital records.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1978. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical context

The statute quoted in the opinion applied to a licensed chiropractor's access to and practice in a hospital or sanitarium that received "aid or support from the public." Its records clause concerned diagnostic X-rays and laboratory records relating to the chiropractor's own patient. The AG read "diagnostic X-ray records" to include the X-rays themselves.

Common questions

Could a chiropractor review the patient's X-rays at a publicly supported hospital under the 1978 opinion?

Yes. That was the question the AG answered. It said the chiropractor's statutory access to diagnostic X-ray records included the X-rays themselves.

Did the opinion grant access to every patient's hospital records?

No. The quoted statute limited access to diagnostic X-ray and laboratory records relating to the chiropractor's patient.

Did the opinion decide whether the statute applied to a hospital without public aid or support?

No. The question and quoted statute concerned a hospital or sanitarium receiving aid or support from the public.

Did the opinion decide what consent or disclosure rules apply today?

No. It interpreted the 1977 version of G.S. 90-153 and did not address later medical-records law.

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/health-chiropractors-access-to-x-rays-in-possession-of-hospitals/

Citations

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-153

Original opinion text

Requested By:

The Honorable Ramey F. Kemp
Member of the House of Representatives
North Carolina General Assembly

Question:

Under current statutes may a chiropractor review the diagnostic X-ray records of his patient when such records are in the possession of a hospital which receives aid or support from the public?

Conclusion:

Yes.

As amended by the 1977 General Assembly, G.S. 90-153 provided as follows:

"A licensed chiropractor in this State may have access to and practice chiropractic in any hospital or sanitarium in this State that received aid or support from the public, and shall have access to diagnostic X-ray records and laboratory records relating to the chiropractor's patient." (Emphasis Supplied)

This statute clearly authorizes a chiropractor to review the records described in the question, which such entitlement including access to the X-rays themselves. It would seem that the intent of the General Assembly in enacting this legislation was threefold: (a) to obviate unnecessary costs in the delivery of health care; (b) to prevent unnecessary explosure of patients to radiation; and (c) to enable chiropractors to engage fully in the practice of chiropractic.

Rufus L. Edmisten
Attorney General

William F. O'Connell
Special Deputy Attorney General

Robert R. Reilly
Assistant Attorney General