Every year we must direct a few families to this webpage.
Unfortunately we are sharing the news that the Mayo Clinic has given up on receiving your family member’s neurological medical records. Your family member passed away several months ago and Mayo cannot keep waiting for these records. Perhaps the good news is that Mayo no longer expects us to follow up with your family about medical records.
Mayo will now proceed to completing the neuropathology report. Of course, the neuropathology report cannot address what clinical symptoms were seen by physicians since those medical records are not at Mayo. You will receive that brain autopsy report by US mail. We hope you will share that report with us by email, fax (650-233-9278), or text (650-814-0848) so that we can know the results and help you interpret the report.
What this means is that your family member’s brain tissue cannot be utilized for research in the cases where researchers need access to neurological records. If you want to improve the chances that your family member’s tissue will be used by future researchers, you can still get those specialist medical records to the Mayo Clinic. In this way, the brain is truly “donated” for research.
Best wishes to you and your family!