diff --git a/src/components/body-sites/__tests__/body-site-fields.test.tsx b/src/components/body-sites/__tests__/body-site-fields.test.tsx
index ca4c1537b..61b5a6c5d 100644
--- a/src/components/body-sites/__tests__/body-site-fields.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/body-sites/__tests__/body-site-fields.test.tsx
@@ -8,10 +8,14 @@ import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";
  *
  *   - the suggestions are the server's list, in its order;
  *   - the site already typed is not suggested back to itself;
- *   - no list (a refused or failed read) is a plain field, not an empty list.
+ *   - no list (a refused or failed read) is a plain field, not an empty list;
+ *   - a delegate whose grant does not include the visits' section is not
+ *     sent to a read that would refuse them.
  *
- * Mutation check (run, seen red): drop the `list` attribute from the input →
- * "offers the sites the record holds" goes red.
+ * Mutation checks (each run, each seen red): drop the `list` attribute from
+ * the input → "offers the sites the record holds" goes red; enable the read
+ * unconditionally in `canReadBodySites` → "does not ask for the list" goes
+ * red.
  */
 
 vi.mock("@/lib/api/api-fetch", async () => {
@@ -24,6 +28,7 @@ vi.mock("@/lib/api/api-fetch", async () => {
 import { I18nProvider } from "@/lib/i18n/context";
 import { queryKeys } from "@/lib/query-keys";
 import type { BodySiteListDTO } from "@/lib/body-sites/dto";
+import { canReadBodySites } from "@/hooks/use-body-sites";
 import { BodySiteFields } from "../body-site-fields";
 
 function render(data: BodySiteListDTO | null, typed = ""): string {
@@ -77,4 +82,12 @@ describe("<BodySiteFields>", () => {
     expect(html).not.toContain("<datalist");
     expect(html).not.toContain(" list=");
   });
+
+  it("does not ask for the list without the visits' section", () => {
+    expect(canReadBodySites(null)).toBe(true);
+    expect(canReadBodySites(undefined)).toBe(true);
+    expect(canReadBodySites(["profile", "illness"])).toBe(true);
+    expect(canReadBodySites(["illness"])).toBe(false);
+    expect(canReadBodySites([])).toBe(false);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/components/body-sites/body-site-fields.tsx b/src/components/body-sites/body-site-fields.tsx
index 666691c21..16c9d3fa9 100644
--- a/src/components/body-sites/body-site-fields.tsx
+++ b/src/components/body-sites/body-site-fields.tsx
@@ -10,14 +10,18 @@
  * types. The list comes from the server (`useBodySiteSuggestions`), which
  * decrypts and folds the sites; the browser's own `datalist` does the
  * narrowing, so a suggestion is a nudge and never a restriction. A caller whose
- * grant cannot read the list gets a plain text field.
+ * grant cannot read the list gets a plain text field and no request.
  */
 import { useId } from "react";
 
 import { FieldGroup } from "@/components/ui/field-group";
 import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input";
 import { NativeSelect } from "@/components/ui/native-select";
-import { useBodySiteSuggestions } from "@/hooks/use-body-sites";
+import {
+  canReadBodySites,
+  useBodySiteSuggestions,
+} from "@/hooks/use-body-sites";
+import { useRecordCapabilities } from "@/hooks/use-record-capabilities";
 import { useTranslations } from "@/lib/i18n/context";
 import {
   LATERALITIES,
@@ -46,7 +50,11 @@ export function BodySiteFields({
   const listId = `${useId()}-body-sites`;
   const typed = bodySite.trim().toLowerCase();
   // The exact site already typed is not suggested back to itself.
-  const suggestions = useBodySiteSuggestions().filter(
+  // The list is read in the visits' section. A delegate without it (say, one
+  // who may only keep the illness journal) is not sent to a read that would
+  // refuse them on every open; the field simply offers nothing.
+  const { sections } = useRecordCapabilities();
+  const suggestions = useBodySiteSuggestions(canReadBodySites(sections)).filter(
     (site) => site.toLowerCase() !== typed,
   );
 
diff --git a/src/components/illness/illness-episode-detail.tsx b/src/components/illness/illness-episode-detail.tsx
index 24ddccef9..e05d1dee9 100644
--- a/src/components/illness/illness-episode-detail.tsx
+++ b/src/components/illness/illness-episode-detail.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { PageHeader } from "@/components/ui/page-header";
 import { Skeleton } from "@/components/ui/skeleton";
 import { useTranslations, useFormatters } from "@/lib/i18n/context";
 import { bodySiteText } from "@/components/encounters/encounter-labels";
+import { canReadBodySites } from "@/hooks/use-body-sites";
 
 import { IllnessCorrelationCard } from "./illness-correlation-card";
 import { IllnessDayTimeline } from "./illness-day-timeline";
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ export function IllnessEpisodeDetail({ episodeId }: { episodeId: string }) {
   const { canManageDomain, sections } = useRecordCapabilities();
   // The body-site view is read in the visits' section; a grant without it
   // gets the site as text rather than a link that would be refused.
-  const canOpenBodySites = sections === null || sections.includes("profile");
+  const canOpenBodySites = canReadBodySites(sections);
   const canManageIllness = canManageDomain("illness");
   const fmt = useFormatters();
   const {
diff --git a/src/hooks/use-body-sites.ts b/src/hooks/use-body-sites.ts
index ef2a6a7fc..fff12203a 100644
--- a/src/hooks/use-body-sites.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/use-body-sites.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,18 @@ export function useBodySites(
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether the caller may ask for the list at all. It is read in the visits'
+ * section (`profile`), so a grant without it would be refused on every open;
+ * `null` or absent sections mean the whole record (one's own, or an
+ * entire-record grant).
+ */
+export function canReadBodySites(
+  sections: readonly string[] | null | undefined,
+): boolean {
+  return !sections || sections.includes("profile");
+}
+
 /**
  * The site names a body-site field suggests: every site the record holds,
  * most used first. A failed or refused read (a grant without the visits