John Russell reports: A powerful member of the Indiana Board of Pharmacy was quietly involved in discussions with state pharmacy regulators about a $100 million project that benefited his employer — Walgreens pharmacies. And now a government watchdog group and a labor federation say those actions not only violated state ethics laws, but have allowed…
Category: Uncategorized
Public health, privacy rights collide in Pa. drug-tracking bill
Andrew Staub reports: Legislation moving through the Pennsylvania Senate would allow prosecutors to rifle through prescription drug records as easily as police can search a student’s locker. The proposal, Senate Bill 1180, would create an expanded prescription drug monitoring program and increase access for pharmacists and health-care practitioners who prescribe medication. The American Civil Liberties…
NY: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center employees charged with illegally accessing patient information that they provided to lawyers and "medical mills"
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced that two employees of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York have been charged with illegally accessing medical records and personal identification information of emergency room patients who were then contacted — some while they were still in the emergency room – by attorneys seeking to solicit them as clients…
CA: Data stolen from 5,000 Palomar Health patients after flash drives left in employee's car (updated)
Teri Figueroa reports: About 5,000 patients of Palomar Health had personal information — including medical diagnoses — stolen last month when someone swiped a company laptop and two flash drives from an employee’s vehicle, a company official announced Friday. Read more on U-T San Diego. A statement on Palomar Health’s website says: Notice to Palomar…
HHS releases security risk assessment tool to help providers with HIPAA compliance
A new security risk assessment (SRA) tool to help guide health care providers in small to medium sized offices conduct risk assessments of their organizations is now available from HHS. The SRA tool is the result of a collaborative effort by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Office…
MN: Privacy activists decry bill to restore newborn blood sample storage
Rebecca Harrington reports: The Minnesota Department of Health would regain broad authority to test and store blood samples from newborn babies under legislation that has pitted medical privacy activists against advocates of public health and medical research. The bill, which has passed key committees in the House and Senate, would reverse the direction of recent…