ABSTRACT
This paper discusses medical records, which are often disputed during lawsuits and play an important role in the factfinding process. There have been no published reports of problems related to medical records or concrete measures to deal with these problems on the basis of a review of judicial precedents. To avoid lawsuits, medical records should be considered in the context of judicial precedents (previous court rulings). The present paper therefore analyzes basic matters related to medical records that were disputed during lawsuits, in relation to judgments obtained in previous court rulings, to determine the judicial role of medical records and their ownership. Although the ownership of medical records is unclear, we believe that patients have some ownership rights over their medical records, that hospitals are responsible for the control of the records, and that physicians have the obligation to use and prepare them. Therefore, medical records can be seen as being jointly owned by the medical care provider and the patient. Analysis of relevant judicial precedents has also allowed us to clarify essential points related to avoiding lawsuits.