April 16, 2002: Medical Privacy Threatened

I was very impressed by an opinion piece that appeared in our Austin paper. It was written by Deborah C. Peel, an Austin native who happens to be president of the National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers. I know nothing about Ms. Peel or the group, but her words speak eloquently for themselves.

In a nutshell: The Bush administration is trying to change the law to eliminate the requirement that you consent before your medical records are released. Doctor-patient confidentiality will be replaced by, in all effect, government ownership of your medical records.

I've read the government "fact sheet" that explains how they claim to be strengthening protections. What it boils down to is that they're REMOVING your protections, and adding to the number of ways the health care provider has to tell you that if you get treatment, your information won't be private . . . Read the article - and then, if you feel there's a problem here, send your comments to the Department of Health and Human Services right away. There's only about a week left in the comment period.[SJ Games website]

11:24:43 AM