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by TeMPOraL 2682 days ago
> At this point the only advice you can give is to please ask every doctor you ask to not make any notes or files on you at all, and just deal with that. "I travel a lot and this just causes trouble" is a useful phrase in that regard.

Does this work? From what I hear, beyond the obvious benefits of enabling continued care, notes have an extra important purpose: it helps doctors to protect themselves against bullshit lawsuits.

An medical student in my family told me a story once, about a doctor who told a patient to get some tests. The patient ignored the advice, and found themselves dead couple of years later, from illness that would be detected early on those tests. The patient's husband came to doctor's office, seeking to sue her for negligence, and what saved her was that she had notes from those years ago, that clearly stated she did in fact order the patient to get the relevant tests done.