Do you read the history?

I will tell you, I have spent more time with "specialists" than a person should. I have seen the good, bad and the ugly of it all, but as with everything, the bad is what stands out the most. I've seen medical specialists, for a myriad of reasons. My own health issues aside, I am the primary driver for my disabled husband and my disabled father. In both cases I am there, not only for the drive, but also to explain or rather translate, to them what the doctors have just said, prescribed, and or suggested. I am not sure if it is part of their disabilities that they can't grasp what the doctor's are saying, or if it is that as someone who worked in the health field, I can glean the meaning of what the doctors are trying to convey. Either way, such is life.
There have been too many times, especially in my father's case, that it is especially fortunate that I was there, which brings me to the crux of my diatribe. On two separate occasions, with two separate doctors, we have been required to fill out extensive forms, on his contact information, medical history, complaints, and family history. Told to come early, to fill this information out, so as not to delay, what is usually an incredible wait time regardless. I fill this paper work out, as I am my father's eyes for the most part, thanks to diabetes, and diabetic retinopathy. In both instances as we were leaving, the doctors have given a prescription, both of which I knew were contraindicated for Congestive Heart Failure patients! I asked, can he take this having CHF? The doctors, both times, then said, "oh, no that will kill him." Taking the script back and then looking at his history, and writing something else.
Is it too much to ask, that if required to write the information down, that the doctor be required to read it? A quick glance would be sufficient.
Another specialist, when asked by my father for a prescription for his sinus infection, actually had the audacity to say "I am a specialist, don't you have a family doctor," in a pompous tone. Really, why take care of now what you can put off for weeks, as you wait for your family doctor to get an opening in his schedule? Yet another specialist scheduled my father to return for a follow-up visit 3 weeks later. After a minimum of a 3 hour wait, the doctor actually asked, "why, are you here again so soon?" Well Doctor, I don't know, could it be because you told me to be here?
This same doctor will ask him which insulin he takes and how much, several different times in a visit, prompting a curt "do you not right down what you prescribed," as I am further and further disgusted by the whole visit. I leave shaking my head every time. It seems the specialists, specialize in incompetence. Must be a required subject.