Author: Dissent

Steven Price writes in the Media Law Journal: Last August, the BSA upheld a complaint from Dr Stephanie du Fresne, the medical director of a mental health clinic, about an interview with one of her committed patients conducted without the clinic’s knowledge. TV3 News interviewed the woman about her electric shock treatment, which she didn’t…

Getahn Ward writes in The Tennessean: With the click of a computer mouse, Nashville businessman Doug Smith can see his personal health records, including medical lab results, and communicate by e-mail with his doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. That access came in handy recently when Smith saw a mention in radiology test results that…

L. M. Sixel writes in the Houston Chronicle: Medical privacy has been protected for years by the most unlikely guardians: insurance companies. Now, the Texas Legislature has become the first in the nation to force insurance companies to pass along sensitive employee health records to their companies, a practice permitted under federal law. Starting Jan….

Shawne K. Wickham writes in the Union Leader: Elliot Health System has notified six patients that their private information may have been compromised after a computer theft last month at one of its vendors. John Shea of New Boston got a letter yesterday from Elliot’s director of compliance, informing him of the theft and possible…

Mark Townsend and Anushka Asthana write in The Observer: Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert. Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the…

Richard Pizzi writes on Healthcare IT News: The Carle Clinic Association, one of the largest private physician groups in the United States, plans to implement an electronic kiosk-based patient check-in program at its 11 branches in Central Illinois. Carle Clinics will use the My Patient Passport ExpressT kiosk from Mequon, Wis. Company officials say the…