PHIPA DECISION 241

Two sons of a deceased patient requested under the Act that the hospital make several corrections to the death note of their mother. The hospital granted two corrections related to the date and circumstances of their mother’s death but denied a third related to the cause of death.
In this decision, the adjudicator finds that the information the sons want corrected, the impact of their mother’s mental health in her death, is a professional opinion or observation made in good faith by the attending physician, and the section 55(9)(b) exception to the duty to correct therefore applies. He upholds the decision of the hospital and dismisses the complaint.