P.R. Laws tit. 20, § 544w
It shall be the exclusive obligation of the optometrist or certified optometrist to properly maintain the clinical file of each patient for a period of not less than six (6) years. Thus, he or she shall be the custodian of the files and other documents of the patients related to the practice of optometry.
The patient shall ultimately decide who shall be the custodian of his/her file. However, the optometrist may keep a copy of the file, should he or she not be the custodian of the original elected by the patient. [Every natural or juridical person who has custody of said file shall keep watch so that the information product of the evaluation and exam, contained in said file, is not disclosed to third persons without the express written and contemporaneous consent of the patient.]
History —Aug. 15, 1999, No. 246, § 5.09.