Can driving records from Massachusetts be pulled in Arizona?

How can I get my medical records if I was adopted, in Massachusetts?

• I am over 18. I was adopted in Massachusetts as a toddler. I do NOT wish to contact my birth parents at all. All I want to do is get a medical history now that I am at that age where I can start thinking about having children of my own - my doctor suggested that it would be a very good idea, but didn't know how I could go about obtaining them. If I understand what I've been reading online, family medical history / medical records are types of non-identifying information and as an adoptee I should be able to request it somehow. However, I have been searching online for anything that tells me HOW and I can't find anything!! Does anyone know how I can obtain my family medical history / medical records - in Massachusetts? Thanks in advance!

• Answer:

  Medical records are not held by the state. They are held by the medical agency/doctor's office that created the record....where you sought treatment (or was taken for treatment as a child). Most will keep records for up to 10 years after the last visit / entry into the record, but any longer than that is not required by law and many doctors offices will destroy them after that. A hospital MAY keep them and not destroy them. You can obtain any that MAY still exist by contacting the facility that may have the record, and follow whatever requirements they have in obtaining the records. Probably having to fill out a consent or "Release of Medical Information" form. Even your current doctor can do this. Obviously, you would have to use your pre-adoption name in order to get them.