Lindsay Abrams writes: When you become a patient, a whole new world of social networking opens up. There’s one site that was described to me as being “like Match.com for cancer patients,” because it sorts its users by a/s/l, along with type of cancer and treatment. Another tailors itself to women with breast cancer and provides a space…
Author: Dissent
ACLU Challenging DEA’s Access to Confidential Prescription Records Without a Warrant
Ooh. I missed this important post by Nathan Freed Wessler of the ACLU last week: The Drug Enforcement Administration is trying to access private prescription records of patients in Oregon without a warrant, despite a state law forbidding it from doing so. The ACLU and its Oregon affiliate are challenging this practice in a new…
Wisconsin clinic notifies patients of information breach that occurred last summer
The Pierce County Herald reports: River Falls Medical Clinic says it has notified about 2,400 clients of a breach of unsecured personal information. The breach occurred after clinic officials reported stolen equipment to the River Falls Police in the summer of 2012. Police investigated and found the stolen equipment, as well as paper documents containing…
UK: Big brother to log your drinking habits and waist size as GPs are forced to hand over confidential records
Jack Doyle reports: GPs are to be forced to hand over confidential records on all their patients’ drinking habits, waist sizes and illnesses. The files will be stored in a giant information bank that privacy campaigners say represents the ‘biggest data grab in NHS history’. They warned the move would end patient confidentiality and hand…
Insurance company need not defend accountant who lost sensitive client information
Having homeowner’s insurance is a good idea, but don’t count on it to protect you if your clients’ data is stolen from your property. Stephen E Wieker and Liisa M. Thomas and Winston & Strawn LLP write: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh recently ruled that Nationwide Insurance Co. has no duty to defend or…
Identity theft charges prompts Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare to tighten policies
Jennifer Portman reports on yet another refund fraud ring involving a hospital employee as the source of personal information: Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare officials modified policies to help better protect the privacy of patients’ personal information and offered identity protection services to more than 100 patients after learning last year that a hospital employee was suspected…