MEDICAL RECORDS: Can I See Them or Not? by Lisa Copen

I was to see the surgeon about the broken tendon in

my hand and so was handed a large folder containing my

medical records to take with me to the other side of

the hospital. It was the first time I was pleased to

have to wait to see the physician. I skimmed the

records as quickly as I could, shocked at the large

amount of information that I had shared with my doctor

about my condition which was omitted from the records.

He had dismissed my most recently complaints of pain

from active rheumatoid arthritis as "likely caused by

stress of breaking up with boyfriend." I now knew

where I stood with this doctor, based on his scrawled

inaccurate descriptions of our visits.

The nurse appeared and witnessed me reading my

documents and in exasperation claimed, "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

information is most difficult to receive.

IS 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

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BIO:

Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries, a Christian organization that serves people who live with chronic illness or pain. Living with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, she is a speaker/author and the coordinator of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. Her latest resource, "A Woman's Health Resource Journal" has been called, "a disability lawyer's dream." http://www.womanshealthjournal.com

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