Last month, the day after authorities arrested the Pennsburg pediatrician who had been treating his two adopted daughters, Ron Bauer went to the practice to retrieve the girls' medical records.

                Around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 1, Bauer walked into Personal Care Pediatrics office, located at 925 Main St. He noticed a television news van in the parking lot. Inside, the Upper Hanover resident saw two or three patients in the lobby and stood behind three people in line waiting to speak to a receptionist.

                Eventually, Bauer asked a member of the staff for his children's medical records. The Upper Hanover resident received instructions to have another doctor send the office paperwork requesting the records, which  would then be delivered in 30 days.

                According to Bauer, a doctor from the CHOP Primary Care, Indian Valley facility in Souderton sent a records request to the practice, formerly owned by Dr. David Kennedy, who was arrested and charged possessing child pornography. However, Bauer says his the new doctor has not yet received the medical records of his children, ages 2.5 and 1.5 years old.

                 "It's a frustrating situation," he said.

                A recorded phone message at Personal Care Pediatrics says the practice is currently closed, but that it is currently accepting drop-off record releases through a slot in the front door.

                State law requires a physician to make health records available to patients or another practitioner upon written request. Prior payment for professional services to which the records relate may not be required as a condition for making the records available, according to the law.

                However, Kennedy's Dec. 18 death in a Montgomery County Prison may complicate parents' efforts to transfer their children's records, according to Wanda Murren, press secretary for the Department of State, which oversees the state board of medicine.

                In the case of a deceased physician, the problems often faced by someone seeking health records are determining where the records are actually being kept, who has legal control of the records and potentially who has legal control of the location where the records are being kept, according to an email from Murren. 

                She explained that it may be necessary to first have the executor or administrator of the estate, or the court, designate an individual or practice to receive and distribute the records.

                She said that certain health care records are treated differently than general medical records.  For example, records involving mental health care may fall under the provisions of the Mental Health Procedures Act and its associated regulations. In some cases, a parent may not be able to lawfully access the mental health records of their children who are 14 or older without the child's consent, according to Murren.