rm | (no subject)

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.