[1996]

> There are quite a few problems with that in the case of medical records.

Only if you have a paternalistic view

> Some of this information may be urgently needed at a time when the patient is not capable of giving informed consent for its disclosure or does not have it immediately available.

What if I accept the risk I may die due to bad luck/odd circumstances to still refuse the information being handled out by anyone but me?

> Some of the information may be vital to the future healthcare of the patient and would cause serious harm to them if it were lost.

Likewise, what if I accept future risks? I have more skin in the game from losing my records than an hospital losing them anyway.

> And in more of a more morally grey area, some information might be harmful to the patient if they had it.

Then what about I refuse having the information, in exchange of the information also being unavailable to anyone else?

Many people here seem to have the view "more information is good" but not collecting it in the first place seems better to me.

Hence I do no healthcare in the US, only in SE Asia where most services are available in English and Chinese anyway.