Concerns With HIPAA
—Updated 1/4/2016
There are concerns that consent is not required for a long list of legal and administrative purposes that include law enforcement and public health. That means that if you have been a victim of a HIPAA violation by one of those agencies, you have no legal recourse. Only the HHS and the U.S. Department of Justice have the authority to file an action for those violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule does not stop private medical information from being used for marketing purposes and may be disclosed without your authorization to pharmaceutical companies or businesses looking to recall, repair or replace a product or medication. Certain disclosures to law enforcement under the HIPAA Privacy Rule can happen without a court order or warrant.
Beyond that, the nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica has uncovered lax enforcement and other problems with HIPAA in its ongoing “Policing Patient Privacy” series, begun in 2015. ProPublica’s resources include a searchable “HIPAA Helper” database of hospitals, clinics, pharmacies or other health care entities that have been named in patient privacy complaints, breaches or violations.
Who Must Comply With The HIPAA Privacy Rule?
____________________
Read more:
- Your Medical Privacy Rights
- Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA)
- CMIA Loopholes
- How To Submit A Medical Privacy Complaint