Mass. Gen. Laws » Part III Title II Chapter 233
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 233, § 79 (2026)

Records and copies of records of hospitals and certain institutions; admissibility in evidence

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 79. Records kept by hospitals, dispensaries or clinics, and sanatoria under section seventy of chapter one hundred and eleven shall be admissible, and records which the court finds are required to be kept by the laws of any other state or territory, or the District of Columbia, or by the laws and regulations of the United States of America pertaining to the department of national defense and the veterans administration, by hospitals, dispensaries or clinics, and sanatoria similarly conducted or operated or which, being incorporated, offer treatment free of charge, may be admitted by the court, in its discretion, as evidence in the courts of the commonwealth so far as such records relate to the treatment and medical history of such cases and the court may, in its discretion, admit copies of such records, if certified by the persons in custody thereof to be true and complete; but nothing therein contained shall be admissible as evidence which has reference to the question of liability. Copies of photographic or microphotographic records so kept by hospitals, dispensaries or clinics, or sanatoria, when duly certified by the person in charge of the hospital, dispensary or clinic, or sanatorium, shall be admitted in evidence equally with the original photographs or microphotographs.

A record kept by any hospital, dispensary or clinic, or sanatorium under section seventy of chapter one hundred and eleven which is required to be produced in court by any party shall be certified by the affidavit of the person in custody thereof to be a true and complete record, and shall be delivered by such hospital, dispensary or clinic, or sanatorium to the clerk of such court, who shall keep the same in his custody until its production is called for at the trial or hearing by the party requiring the said record. Such record, so certified and delivered shall be deemed to be sufficiently identified to be admissible in evidence if admissible in all other respects. The party requiring the production of said record and, in the discretion of the court, any other party may examine said record in the custody of the clerk at any time before it is produced in court. The clerk upon completion of such trial or hearing shall notify such hospital that said record is no longer required and will be returned to the hospital by certified mail unless an authorized representative of the hospital calls for the same at the office of said clerk within seven days of said notice.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 158 cases (15 in the last 5 years), 1927–2026 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Dargon, 930 N.E.2d 707 (Mass. 2010).
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Commonwealth v. Dargon, 930 N.E.2d 707 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 20× “The defendant argues *391 first that the admission of Form 2 from the SANE kit constituted reversible error for two reasons: the admission violated the limitations of the hospital records admissibility statute, G. L. c. 233, § 79; and it contravened the first complaint rule set…”
Commonwealth v. Dwyer, 859 N.E.2d 400 (Mass. 2006). · cites it 5× “” G. L. c. 233, § 79. See Doyle v. Dong, 412 Mass.”
Bouchie v. Murray, 381 N.E.2d 1295 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 8× “" The plaintiffs first contend that the challenged portions of the hospital record were inadmissible under G.L.c. 233, § 79, because they related to liability rather than to Bouchie's treatment and medical history.”
Commonwealth v. Palacios, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 722 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 3× “This appeal requires us to consider the application of two statutes governing the admissibility of medical records: G. L. c. 233, § 79, and G. L. c. 233, § 79G.”
Commonwealth v. Gogan, 449 N.E.2d 365 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 5× “The defendant urges that a certified hospital record relating to his treatment at the Berkshire Medical Center was improperly admitted if submitted under G. L. c. 233, § 79, or as an admission by the defendant.”
Doyle v. Dong, 591 N.E.2d 1084 (Mass. 1992). · cites it 9× “The defendant contends that, under G.L.c. 233, § 79 (1990 ed.), the judge properly admitted the Children's Hospital record containing the notation.”
Commonwealth v. Lampron, 839 N.E.2d 870 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). · cites it 5× “The records were generally admissible under G. L. c. 233, § 79. 3 The preliminary toxicology report stands differently.”
Commonwealth v. Dunne, 474 N.E.2d 538 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 5× “In the case of a hospital record, the offering party must show that the evidence comports with the requirements of G. L. c. 233, § 79. See Commonwealth v. Perry, 385 Mass.”
Commonwealth v. McLaughlin, 948 N.E.2d 1258 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 5× “2527, 2531 (2009), against the application of one of the Commonwealth’s most frequently used eviden-tiary statutes, G. L. c. 233, § 79. For both criminal and civil trials, that provision authorizes the discretionary admission of properly certified hospital records related to…”
Commonwealth v. Torres, 98 N.E.3d 155 (Mass. 2018). · cites it 3× “2d 467 (1992), quoting G. L. c. 233, § 79. See Mass. G. Evid. § 803(6)(B) (2017).”
Commonwealth v. DeOliveira, 849 N.E.2d 218 (Mass. 2006). · cites it 2× “” The doctor’s medical notes indicate that Patricia believed that the acts she described had not happened recently.”
Commonwealth v. Medeiros, 921 N.E.2d 98 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 3× “The judge noted that the records had not been subpoenaed in accord with the requirements of either G. L. c. 233, § 79, or G. L. c. 233, § 79G, 2 but as “an act of discretion,” she agreed to admit *55 them at defense counsel’s request in spite of this technical shortcoming.”
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