Tim Carpenter reports:
U.S. Senate candidate Milton Wolf posted a collection of gruesome X-ray images of gunshot fatalities and medical injuries to his Facebook page and participated in online commentary layered with macabre jokes and descriptions of carnage.
Wolf, a Johnson County radiologist anchoring a campaign for the Republican nomination with calls for federal heath care reform, said in an interview the medical images were legally uploaded to public social media sites and other online venues for educational purposes. They also served, he said, to demonstrate evil lurking in the world.
[…]
In the interview Thursday in Johnson County, Wolf said he received permission from patients when required before making use of records or images. He claimed usage, including Facebook posts, that didn’t reveal an individual’s identity didn’t require prior authorization.
Read more on The Topeka Capital-Journal. Was this a HIPAA violation, and if it wasn’t, are we just looking at the “creepy factor” or “poor taste” factor? Or was there actually legitimate value in this? What do you think after you read the whole news report?