Patients are denied their own health records?

Tuesday, 16 December 2025 01:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The recent directive urging doctors to write prescriptions clearly is a welcome step. Legible writing not only helps patients understand what medications they are taking but also ensures that pharmacists can dispense them accurately and safely.

At a public awareness program conducted at the Maligawatte Jummah Mosque on funeral procedures, the Inquirer into Sudden Deaths (ISD) / Coroner, Attorney-at-Law Ashroff Rumy, stressed the importance of keeping personal health records at home. He highlighted that access to these records greatly assists in determining the cause of death and understanding the medical history of the deceased.

In light of this, I am of the strong view that clinics should hand over patients’ health records to the patients themselves, rather than keeping them in the clinic racks. These records are personal documents—just like an identity card—and should be in the custody of the individual, who can then safeguard them responsibly.

Allowing patients to hold their own records would also give them the freedom to seek medical care from another doctor without hesitation or dependency. What purpose does it serve to keep these records under the exclusive control of clinics? Should a patient’s medical history be treated as a trump card held by the doctor?

This practice raises an uncomfortable question: Is this becoming a form of professional monopoly within the medical field?

Mohamed Zahran

Colombo