Liz Austin Peterson reports in the Houston Chronicle:
The Harris County Hospital District and the Texas Attorney General’s Office have agreed to settle a lawsuit over the privacy of medical records for a Houston jail inmate who died while hog-tied in a padded cell, a hospital district spokesman said this week.
The hospital district sued the attorney general in February after his office said records involving Johnell Patrick had to be released to the Houston Chronicle.
The hospital district argued that releasing the information would violate Patrick’s privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The Attorney General’s Office contended that medical privacy rights are only granted to living patients.
Full story – Houston Chronicle