A transatlantic survey of more than a thousand healthcare professionals has shown that over a third are unwittingly putting personal information at risk by storing patient records, medical images, contact details, corporate data and other sensitive information on mobile devices such as laptops, BlackBerrys and USB sticks – and not adequately securing them. The “mobile…
Author: Dissent
Should presidential candidates' DNA be public?
Elizabeth Cooney reports: Can you picture a future when some political operative swipes a presidential candidate’s strand of hair, decodes its genetic data, and predicts mental or physical danger based on the analysis? Bioethicist George J. Annas and neurologist Dr. Robert C. Green of Boston University School of Public Health can. Two months before Barack…
CVS says patient privacy charges unfounded
Turner Hutchens reports: CVS Caremark is refuting accusations by a union coalition that it misused patient information and counter-charges the coalition is trying to pressure CVS into supporting “undemocratic†employee organizing tactics. The Change to Win coalition presented the findings of an 18-month investigation in a report titled “CVS Caremark: An Alarming Prescription†Friday. The…
Appeals Court upholds NH drug privacy law
New Hampshire’s attempt to shield doctors’ prescription records from drug companies does not violate the Constitution, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. In a 148-page ruling made public today, the appeals court overturned a ruling by the state’s U.S. District Court, and found that keeping prescription records confidential does not violate the First…
Former Pa. nursing aide pleas guilty to ID theft
A former nurses assistant has admitted stealing the personal information of a 75-year-old patient from a suburban Philadelphia nursing home. Police say 28-year-old Jennifer Antonelli of Conshohocken stole a check from the patient’s room and used it to open accounts on the Internet and pay her and her boyfriend’s personal bills in 2007. […] At…
ME: Stolen Medical Files
Police are trying to figure out how someone stole files from the Downeast Community Hospital in Machias… They washed ashore in a river in Pembroke last week. Hospital officials say they had no idea the files were even missing, until they were contacted by a police officer. Read more on WABI-TV