Why is it that doctors will make notes in a person’s private medical record and not inform the person who the medical record is assigned to?

Just recently my mom found out that she has COPD. However, even though she just now found out it has been in her records for a few years now. This is a serious medical issue in which the patient should be informed. But apparently no one mentioned it to her. And now she is just finding out.

But this is not the first time I’ve heard about this kind of thing taking place. I myself have been a victim of this lack of information.

See I have what is called Tourette’s syndrome. But I didn’t know it for a very long time. One day, I watched a TV show where they had children with Trent syndrome. As I was watching them . I thought, well what they have looks an awful lot like what I have.

So when I eventually went to the doctor. for a visit for something unrelated. I made mention of it to my doctor. And you know what? My doctor said it’s already in your medical file that you have Tourette’s syndrome. I was in shock. I mean, no one told me. Yet for some reason doctors knew about it and I was never informed

Why do they get to know about a medical issue that the patient should know about yet deny the patient such information? I mean, they’re not exactly violating HIPAA law by telling a person the personal medical information of a patient when they are the patient with that medical condition.

This kind of thing that would have saved me a lot of trouble. For the longest time I convince myself I had some really bad habits that I had no control over. Knowing it wasn’t some have it. I had no control over would have been nice.

In my personal opinion this kind of thing is medical neglect. A form of neglect that when a patient is not informed, it can cause things to be a lot harder for that person in their day-to-day life. In my mother’s case not being notified could have even resulted in a slow decline in health, and even resulting in possible death due to lack of information and treatment.

So it would seem that sadly we cannot rely on our doctors to keep us up to date on our own health, but instead should start to demand to see our own medical records so that we are more aware of are own medical conditions. Because doctors are failing to inform their patients of things that the patient should be made aware of immediately.