Avi Baumstein writes in InformationWeek: Are peer-to-peer networks really filled with sensitive corporate data just waiting to be plucked and abused? It seems unlikely–surely people wouldn’t be that sloppy. Like a 19th century prospector, I decided to dip my pan into the stream to see what I could find. The results were shocking and scary–loads…
Author: Dissent
California bill aims to open medical records
Dan Abendschein writes: Pharmaceutical companies could gain access to medical records to send reminders to patients to refill prescriptions, if a state bill is passed. The bill, SB 1096, was introduced by state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello. It allows pharmaceutical companies to purchase the information from the pharmacies that serve individual patients. But it does…
NZ: HC overturns BSA privacy decision
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…
E-medicine: It has strong devotees, but privacy issues slow growth of valuable programs
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…
Access to health records bolstered for employers
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….
Texas computer theft prompts Elliot warning
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…