Family access to medical records

No humor in this post, in fact I had to stop myself from calling it the "I hate HIPAA" post.  I know that regulations exist to protect privacy, and I know that I'm not the first to complain about how HIPAA has made life difficult.  But this is in regards to HIPAA making death difficult too.  My sister died 4 years ago and I'm very close with her tween-aged daughters.  My sister and I had both gone to the same ob/gyn and I recently requested to see her records so I could share details about her puberty, should my nieces want to know.  I'd assumed my sister had listed me as authorized to share medical information, but found out that she hadn't.  Why would she? We talked all the time, there'd be no need for me to contact her doctor... unless she died at the age of 41... which she did.  If you are married and have siblings, or a best friend, add one of them to your medical file as authorized to receive information.  If not, HIPAA requires proof from the executor of the estate.  My brother-in-law is dealing with life as a single parent, he defers the kids to me when it come to the 'girl stuff,'  but since my sister didn't have the foresight to list me on her medical files, I now have to defer to HIPAA to get to the "girl stuff" records.