Naveen N Srivatsa of the Harvard Crimson reports: Over 20 students gathered in front of the Holyoke Center Wednesday evening to protest Harvard University Health Services’ decision to discontinue anonymous HIV testing. Waving signs that read “My right to privacy includes my right to anonymity†and “I’m pro-testing,†the group of students from the College…
Author: Dissent
(follow-up) NE: Hastings Regional Center must release names
Denise Booker of KHAS-TV reports: The fight to release the names of those buried at the Hastings Regional Center is now over. The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered the state to release nearly 1,000 patient names from the former psychiatric hospital cemetery. The Adams County Historical Society has battled for almost 2 years to make…
Iowa Court: proof of disclosure not sufficient to support damages
Jeff Drummon of HIPAA blog points to an Iowa case decided this month: John Doe v. Central Iowa Health System d/b/a Iowa Health Des Moines d/b/a Iowa Methodist Medical Center and d/b/a Iowa Lutheran Hospital (pdf). In this case, although the plaintiff seemingly convinced the jury that his records had been improperly disclosed, he didn’t…
Identity theft, privacy and information security — executive coaching (part 3)
In this article, Joe Campana discusses safe harbor and cites a 2007 Illinois Supreme Court opinion from Bagent v. Blessing Care Corporation, d/b/a Illini Community Hospital (pdf). Campana writes, in part: An Illinois Supreme Court Case illustrates safe harbor. A health care employee divulged personal health information of a patient in a conversation with…
IRS lax in destroying sensitive tax papers
From Reuters: Sensitive documents about U.S. taxpayers were found in trash outside all Internal Revenue Service sites visited in a investigation, putting the people at risk of identity theft, an inspector’s report says. The tax collection agency must bolster oversight of contractors who dispose of papers with personally identifiable information, the inspector general for tax…
Bits ‘n Pieces
In the justice system: In a follow-up to a case reported last year, former Texas lottery worker Joseph Mueggenborg was arrested and charged with illegally “possessing” personal information on 140 lottery winners and employees, including their names and Social Security numbers. How he got hired by another state agency after being fired by another one…