I’ve blogged a number of times about a Florida law that prohibits doctors from asking patients about guns in the home absent a specific concern. I’m already on record that I think this is an unconstitutional infringement on the First Amendment rights of doctors and that states should not be able to sidestep our ability…
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Baby Pictures at the Doctor’s? Cute, Sure, but Illegal
Anemona Hartocollis reports: Pictures of smiling babies crowd a bulletin board in a doctor’s office in Midtown Manhattan, in a collage familiar to anyone who has given birth. But the women coming in to have babies of their own cannot see them. They have been moved to a private part of the office, replaced in…
Global hacking attack hits four Hong Kong telecoms firms
Danny Lee reports: Four of the city’s biggest internet service providers fell victim to an international cyberattack that also affected 10,000 patients’ health records held by Chinese University. Servers at PCCW, Netvigator, Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) and Hutchison Global Communications were among more than half a million targeted globally. The hackers succeeded in the…
Report slams medical privacy
Kelly Dennett reports: A damning Privacy Commission review shows snooping doctors, nurses and even admin workers can access patients’ most personal medical records. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner identified significant flaws in the security and regulation of three shared care record (SCR) portals used by a number of district health boards. A draft review…
Protecting privacy while gathering health data
Stephanie M. Lee reports that the recent announcement by rival insurers Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross that they would team up to create an health information sharing network with their combined 9 million patients is raising privacy concerns. All members will be participants by default in Cal Index unless they opt out. Lee Tien of EFF…
Travelers must defend business associate in data breach lawsuit
Kira Lerner reports: A Virginia federal judge ruled on Thursday that Travelers Indemnity Co. of America must defend Portal Healthcare Solutions LLC against class allegations that it posted confidential medical records online, finding that the Travelers policy covered electronic publication of private information.U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee granted Portal’s motion for summary judgment and…