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I was sent to the other end of the hospital to see a surgeon & handed my thick
file of medical records. . . It was the first time I was pleased to have extra
time in the waiting room, as I quickly skimmed through the papers; I was shocked
at the large chunks of information that I had shared with my doctor about my condition
which was omitted from the records.
He had dismissed my most recent complaints of pain from active rheumatoid arthritis as "likely caused by stress of breaking up with boyfriend." Based on his scrawled inaccurate appointment descriptions, I now knew where I stood with this doctor.
A nurse appeared and in exasperation huffed, "You're not supposed to be reading that!" grabbing the folder out of my hand.
"They're
my records," I said, "I don't understand why I can't."
"You just can't," she flustered. "It's not ethical."
She was wrong.
Can
I Get a Copy
of My Medical Records?
Usually.
Most states allow patients to review their medical information, but some states
don't address the issue at all. Some may place restrictions on the information
you can get, for example, psychiatric in-formation is most difficult to receive.
Isn't
the Information Mine?
Technically, the documents belong to whoever
made them, but in most cases the information about you belongs to you. Contact
the you State Department of Health to find out your rights in your state. The
number is in your local yellow pages or at the FDA web site at: www.fda.gov/oca/sthealth.htm.
Even in states where the law is restrictive or unclear, many medical providers
will provide your records to you anyway, according to the American . .
.
This
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