John Commins reports that physician groups will appeal the 11th Circuit ruling upholding Florida’s “Docs vs. Glocks” law. I am glad to hear that as I think the law is not only a gag on health professionals’ First Amendment rights, but a prohibition on professional speech/conduct that is a disservice to public health and safety. In…
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Florida Man Sentenced In Stolen Identity Tax Refund Scheme Involving Thousands Of Individuals’ Personal Identifying Information
A follow-up to a case previously reported on this blog: Paul Evans Auguste, 30, of Miami, was sentenced today to 61 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme. Auguste previously pled guilty to one count of access device fraud, in…
Insecure Communications Costly For Hospitals
Alison Diana reports: When a doctor treating a North Carolina nursing home patient asked a nurse to text the resident’s lab results, only the two authorized medical professionals saw the message — but the residential facility ended up paying a high price for using this inherently insecure messaging medium. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…
When departing employees take your PHI with them….
One of the breaches recently added to HHS’s public breach tool involved PRN Medical Services, LLC, d/b/a Symbius Medical, LLC in Arizona. The incident, which reportedly occurred January 18 and affected 2,200 patients was coded as “Theft, Unauthorized Access/Disclosure, Other” with the location of the data being coded as “Network Server, E-mail.” As has often been the case…
UK: Police investigate after health notes found on Orkney pavement
Bert Ovenstone reports: Police are investigating a patient confidentiality breach after hospital notes were found by a member of the public on a pavement in Orkney. NHS Orkney is also continuing its own investigation into the incident. The confidential patient handover notes were found near Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall on July 15. However, despite the…
Have "duty to warn" laws backfired?
Did a law intended to prevent violence and improve safety backfire? Given that state duty to warn laws have always raised concerns about balancing patient privacy and confidentiality with public safety, have the laws backfired by discouraging patients and doctors from addressing what needs to be addressed? One study suggests they may have: Doing Their Duty: An Empirical…