(no subject)
Mar. 6th, 2004 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
In one of my past jobs, I did an immense amount of work on issues related to corporate marketing and the privacy of medical records (HIPAA for the geeks). So with that in mind, I find this both incredibly disturbing and utterly mindboggling.
In a sharp departure from its past insistence on the sanctity of medical records, the Bush administration has set forth a new, more limited view of privacy rights as it tries to force hospitals and clinics to turn over records of hundreds and perhaps thousands of abortions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/06/politics/06PRIV.html
In my mind, one of the great, unspoken health issues of my lifetime (and probably anyone's) has been people lying on medical records -- the most common reasons being to protect their privacy, to get access to experimental treatments, or to get insurance to cover things it otherwise wouldn't. I've seen it about AIDS, abortion, STDs, drug use and an immense and random variety of pre-existing conditions. It ranges from trivial to beat the system to causing potentially life threatening issues when it comes to medication and proceedures.
This article judstifies a risky behavior because it seems to indicate that a particular paranoia isn't well... all that paranoid. And, as with so many other things going on with this administration, the precedent this sets is scariest of all.
If you're not clear on it yet, this is just one more reason, we're fighting for our lives and livelihoods in this election.
In a sharp departure from its past insistence on the sanctity of medical records, the Bush administration has set forth a new, more limited view of privacy rights as it tries to force hospitals and clinics to turn over records of hundreds and perhaps thousands of abortions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/06/politics/06PRIV.html
In my mind, one of the great, unspoken health issues of my lifetime (and probably anyone's) has been people lying on medical records -- the most common reasons being to protect their privacy, to get access to experimental treatments, or to get insurance to cover things it otherwise wouldn't. I've seen it about AIDS, abortion, STDs, drug use and an immense and random variety of pre-existing conditions. It ranges from trivial to beat the system to causing potentially life threatening issues when it comes to medication and proceedures.
This article judstifies a risky behavior because it seems to indicate that a particular paranoia isn't well... all that paranoid. And, as with so many other things going on with this administration, the precedent this sets is scariest of all.
If you're not clear on it yet, this is just one more reason, we're fighting for our lives and livelihoods in this election.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-06 07:04 am (UTC)Think about this, he is trying to do this while abortion is legally sanctioned in this country. Imagine the dark ages we will enter if he gets his way with Roe vs Wade. It makes me shudder.
At this point I will vote for anyone that the Democrats put up, whether I like them or not. A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-06 07:17 am (UTC)That's some nasty stuff.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-06 09:13 am (UTC)It truly seems that there is no privacy where he is concerned.
I'm dismayed that it isn't just extraterritorial.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-06 12:45 pm (UTC)