I’m first working my way through the provisions in the stimulus bill that relate to breaches and notifications. One of the recommendations that I and other privacy advocates had made was central notification and disclosure on a publicly available web site. They heard us. Here’s part of the new law: (3) NOTICE TO SECRETARY- Notice…
Category: Health Data
Think globally, act locally — kudos to WTHR
This seems to be my morning for giving thumbs up. This one is to WTHR, whose investigative series on pharmacies dumping unshredded prescription documents and customer data led the government to take action. Their reports had been covered on PogoWasRight.org starting in July 2006 and demonstrate what good local news coverage can accomplish. One aspect…
Electronic Medical Records: Will Your Privacy Be Safe?
Bernadine Healy, M.D. had a commentary in USA Today a few days ago that reiterates some of the concerns privacy advocates have raised. It’s interesting to see how many people from different fields have all cited the Alex Rodriguez case as an example of where someone’s privacy was violated with significant consequences: Look at Alex…
MD: Identity Transplant
Chris Landers reports: Bill Wall is a large man with close-cropped hair and the bearing of a military man, which he is–a major in the Army’s 729th Brigade Support Battalion. His wife Deborah is tiny, blond, and full of an energy that belies the fact that for more than 10 years she has been suffering…
NY: Detailed medical records turn up online
Cathleen F. Crowley reports: Alice Fisk searched Google hoping to find condolence messages written on memorial sites for her daughter, who died in September from complications of diabetes. Instead of condolences, Fisk found a medical report about her daughter’s visit to a bone doctor. […] Records of more than 1,000 patient visits to Northeast Orthopaedics,…
CVS Settles with FTC on privacy charges; CVS Pharmacy pays $2.5 million to settle HIPAA allegations
CVS Caremark has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it failed to take reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect the sensitive financial and medical information of its customers and employees, in violation of federal law. In a separate but related agreement, the company’s pharmacy chain also has agreed to pay $2.25 million…