[marincounty]

I was wondering what happens to your medical records if your Doctor dies. It turns out there's no hard set rules--that I was able to find. Yes--you have a trail of prescriptions, and if you paid with insurance I guess you can prove you took/need certain medications? The problem arises if you see a Doctor and pay cash. It looks like the only way to gain access to your records is going through probate court. Even then, the Executor is not required to look for your records. Who knows where the medical records end up; I imagine most times they end up in garbage? Am I right? If I got this wrong, please correct me.

[sandworm]

A dead doctor (or lawyer) doesn't mean that his/her practice is dead. That legal entity carries on. The local medical board will have rules regarding the disposition of patient records. In all likelihood the dead doctor's practice will be taken over and/or merged into an existing practice. In a worst-case scenario (solo doc, no staff, small town) the records would probably be returned to patients.

Any responsible doctor/practice/hospital will have life insurance to cover expenses resulting from the death of a senior employee such as a doctor. It may even be bundled into the doc's malpractice insurance.

Executors execute wills. They are responsible for the disposition of the dead's assets, not the continued care of patients.

You don't need to prove that you "need" any prescription. If your doc dies, your current prescription is still in effect. When it comes time to renew you need to find another doctor. You don't get to carry on with a prescription forever without medical supervision just because the original doc is dead. It is not up to the patient to decide what they "need" when it comes to prescriptions. Input yes, but the decision as to need is the responsibility of the doctor.