Question:
No record of me being a patient.

I live in AZ. I used to go to a doctor years ago(4 yrs ago)who put me on Phentermine to lose weight. Yesterday I was CA, and decided to see if I could get my records. They told me there was no record of me! I have been there 3 times,and now there is no proof. WIll this affect my getting surgery? I asked the receptionist what if the doctor's office calls to check on the pills I took. She just looked at me and said "I'll just have to tell him there are no records". This is the only doctor supervised wl I did. The rest were Overeaters Anon.,Richard Simmons,Slim Fast,etc... I am so bummed out by this! Any ideas or suggestions?    — camiam (posted on February 13, 2001)

February 13, 2001
If they were prescriptions check with the Pharmacy ?
   — Mike H.

February 13, 2001
When my doctors office asked me for all of my diet history, i just listed the phen-phen even though it was my only medically supervised weight loss, too. If you had prescriptions filled then there would be a record of those. All of those other programs you have done count too!! Dont get bummed. Keep going forward, You'll get there!!!
   — Carrie M.

February 13, 2001
Thanks,but they filled everything right there in the office,and I always paid in cash. The doctor, that I'm hoping will do the surgery,had his office send me a packet. The packet contained two "medical records release" forms. This problem has bummed me out,but I'm not giving up!
   — camiam

February 13, 2001
There are three things you can do to solve this situation. 1)The doctors office can say that they don't have your records but they did not say they did not have their financial records which would prove you were a patient. By law they are required to keep financial statements going back 7 years (IRS auditing purposes). These records would include your insurance payments and/or creditcard/check statements. 2) Get the doctor that treated you to write a formal statement regarding your weight loss attempts, even though he may not remember you, he may take your word on good faith. 3)Try getting a pharmacy record (Also a 7 year record) or insurance record. By law the insurance company must provide you with a statement if you request one in writing. I hope this helps and good luck!
   — Jane M.

February 13, 2001
I am *SO* glad I'm not the only person who has this problem... though my problem seems to be a little worse. The doctor who treated me with 5 different kinds of drugs for obesity, went out of practice, and all of my perscriptons had been filled at his clinic. I was able to recover part of my chart, but there was no record of my treatment after I had gotten married (4 drugs where tried after that) so now it seems I've lied to my surgeon. I am hoping the insurance approval will go through anyway. =/ Good luck hun, provided you have other co-morbidities you may have a better chance. I've also done more than my share of the "non-prescribed" diets, never thought I'd need to save my receiptes for slim fast and Richard Simmons "Sweating to the oldies" =)
   — Elizabeth D.