Thursday, September 22, 2005

MEDICAL PRIVACY GONE MAD

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is just the latest example of how well-intended privacy laws are creating a society that is being suffocated by over-regulation and lawsuit-happy lawyers. The Associated Press reports that HIPAA, the new federal medical privacy bill, has been cited on numerous occasions by hospitals for denying law enforcement officials access to crime and accident victims. In one notable case, the victim of a botched robbery was taken to a South Carolina hospital with a gun shot wound. Police went to the hospital to interview the victim and see if he could identify the shooter. Hospital administrators not only refused to let the investigating officer see the victim, they also refused to confirm that the victim was in the hospital, citing HIPAA patient confidentiality! When one of the lawyers who helped draft the law (for the Clinton administration) was interviewed about this, he replied that police merely need to obtain a warrant when they want such access. Do we really want to live in a world where detectives have to go to a courthouse to get a warrant to interview a crime victim?

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