| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | Sec. 1. 16 MRSA §357, as amended by PL 1987, c. 791, §3, is | repealed and the following enacted in its place: |
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| §357.__Medical records and copies of records |
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| | 1.__Records admissible.__Records relating to an examination of | a person or to medical, dental or hospital services, | prescriptions or orthopedic appliances rendered to or prescribed | for a person are admissible in any court, commission or agency | proceeding for the purposes listed in subsection 2 without | requiring the maker of the record or the record custodian to be | called as a witness to authenticate the record. |
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| | 2.__Purposes.__Records may be admitted as evidence of: |
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| A.__The fair and reasonable charge for services or the | necessity of services or treatments under subsection 1: |
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| B.__The diagnosis of the physician or dentist; |
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| C.__The prognosis of the physician or dentist; |
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| D.__The opinion of the physician or dentist as to proximate | cause of the condition diagnosed; or |
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| E.__The opinion of the physician or dentist as to disability | or incapacity, if any, proximately resulting from the | condition diagnosed. |
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| | 3.__Certification.__The record is admissible if certified by | the maker of the record or record custodian to be true and | complete.__Copies of photographic or microphotographic records | kept by hospitals and other medical facilities, when duly | certified by the person in charge of the hospital or other | medical facility, must be admitted in evidence equally with the | original photographs or microphotographs. |
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| | 4.__Prior notice required.__The party offering the record as | evidence must provide written notice of the intention to offer | the record as evidence, together with a copy of the record, to | the opposing party or parties or to the attorneys by certified | mail, return receipt requested, not less than 10 days before the | introduction of the records into evidence.__An affidavit of the | notice and the return receipt must be filed with the clerk of the | court, agency or commission immediately after the receipt has | been returned. |
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