The Associated Press is reporting that California first lady Maria Shriver is among 32 celebrity patients who had their confidential medical records accessed by unauthorized personnel at UCLA Medical Center. According to their report, the same employee who breached actress Farrah Fawcett’s records also breached the privacy of other high-profile or celebrity patients by snooping…
Author: Dissent
AU: Police investigate journalists' claims
This is a follow-up to a story mentioned here: WEST Australian police are investigating claims by a Perth journalist that he was able to access private details of hospital patients from old computers found dumped outside a hospital. A Sunday Times journalist today reported that private details, including the names and addresses of patients, were…
Sweden's e-health initiative launches
The Swedish government has launched its e-health initiative, as described on the e-Health Europe site. The national strategy is described in this 36-page report [pdf]. With respect to security, the report says: Increased use of e-Health must be combined with effective security measures designed to ensure that highly sensitive confidential information relating to individual patients…
Twila Brase on DNA Warehouse and Ownership
I’ve previously linked to an OpEd about a proposed law in Minnesota that would allow collection of every newborn’s DNA despite Minnesota’s genetic privacy law and that would give the government ownership and genetic research rights. Today I saw the following on YouTube. It’s a video of Twila Brase, president of Citizens’ Council on Health…
AU: Royal Perth Hospital dump computers, patient details
 Paul Lamapthakis writes in Perth Now: CONFIDENTIAL patient details are being left on old computers dumped in an open skip bin in a busy laneway at Royal Perth Hospital. Personal information, including patient names and addresses, dates of birth, medical conditions and patient numbers, was accessed with ease by The Sunday Times this week. Sources…
World Privacy Forum files comments on proposed rules regarding Patient Safety Organizations
The World Privacy Forum filed extensive comments today regarding privacy protections for patients whose health care information will be shared with patient safety safety organizations under newly proposed Department of Health and Human Services regulations. After a landmark Institute of Medicine report on the prevalence of medical errors and their harmful impact on patients (To…