The fight to make Lou Gehrig's medical records public begins in St. Paul, winds through Washington, D.C., and upstate New York, and ends at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
For 71 years, since the death of the legendary New York Yankee baseball star from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS -- which became known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- the Mayo Clinic has kept his records private, citing federal rules and state law.
That stance has been challenged as the increasing focus nationally on athletes and concussions has led to speculation that science might be served by opening the records to see whether Gehrig, who had several well-publicized concussions, may have in fact died from repetitive brain trauma.
Some legislators in Minnesota are vowing again to try to pass legislation in January to force the disclosure, even as several leading medical experts said opening Gehrig's records would likely yield little new scientific knowledge.
Gehrig had no children and his wife, Eleanor, died 28 years ago -- leaving no one with legal standing to ask for the records.
Even the president of the Rip Van Winkle Foundation, the little-known entity in upstate New York that owns Gehrig's intellectual property rights, including his image, name and voice, has dismissed the pursuit as frivolous.
The Mayo Clinic continues to have little comment, stressing that, under law, only the spouse, parents or Gehrig's appointed representative have access to his medical records.
"Patient medical records should remain private even after the patient is deceased," said Mayo Clinic spokesman Nicholas Hanson. "Mayo Clinic values the privacy of our patients."