Medical Privacy

In August, I spent the better part of five days at a Florida hospital at the bedside of my very ill father. In the bed next to his was a man who had been hospitalized after passing out from unregulated diabetes. His daughter couldn't bring him home with her, and she was attempting to have him transferred to a Veterans Affairs hospital, since he did not have private health insurance. In the room across the hall was an elderly gentleman. He had an inoperable brain aneurysm.

Doctor groups and privacy advocates have charged that new government rules, touted as protecting patients' confidentiality, will instead make it easier for employers, researchers, law-enforcement officials, the federal government and others to gain access to people's medical records without their consent.

The promoter of a mixed martial arts card March 7 in Tulare, Calif., confirmed Friday that one of the competitors was allowed to fight despite testing positive for Hepatitis C and having no test results on file for HIV. Al Joslin, who has promoted nine cards in California, said he learned of the situation about a week ago, when he was leaked a copy of a memo from the California State Athletic Commission. The commission is responsible for medical clearance of all MMA and boxing shows in the state.

To New Orleans, and straight to the hospital for my first checkup in three years. My favorite lady doctor pokes and prods in all the unusual places and then tells me there's a slight chance I have prostate cancer. Feigning calmness, she leaves to find the results of my blood test. Suddenly alone in her office, I notice on her desk my medical records: a thick pile of time-stained papers inside a decrepit manila folder.

Recognizing the concerns of Americans about lack of privacy in the face of increasing technology, Vice President Al Gore today will call for legislation on an array of hot-button privacy issues and propose new regulations for maintaining the security of health information by health plans and providers.

In a new escalation of the controversy over Los Angeles Fire Department response times, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top lawyer accused the city attorney's office Thursday of improperly advising fire officials to keep some performance data secret. Brian Currey, the mayor's chief counsel, accused City Atty. Carmen Trutanich's office of blocking the release of detailed data showing how quickly firefighters arrive at emergencies. Among other things, Currey complained that the city's lawyers warned fire officials that they could face criminal charges for disclosing information that has been routinely distributed in the past, including the locations of emergencies.

Consumers certainly want to rein in banks, HMOs, media companies and other businesses that collect and exchange personal data about them. But they also want the conveniences made possible by information sharing, like one-click shopping on the Internet, up-to-date and accurate medical and pharmacy records and electronic discount coupons tailored to the products that interest them.

You couldn't listen without feeling creepy. The panic: "She's convulsing…burning up. " The action: "She smoked something". And finally the reveal: "How old is Demi?" That Demi? Moore? Of course it was. Otherwise we wouldn't have been privy to, or cared about, the recording of the lurid 911 call from the actress' home that made the YouTube/Facebook rounds recently. In response to the tape's release, Assemblywoman Norma Torres is preparing a bill to stop 911 calls that disclose a medical condition from reaching the public.

It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your medical records are? You might think they're snug in some folder at your doctor's office. But with computerization and growth of the Internet, sensitive information about your medical history can turn up in places you'd never imagine, read by people you've never met. When a patient visits a doctor, goes to a laboratory for tests, enters a hospital or fills a prescription, that generates a stream of electronic and paper records.

Amid a squall of criticism, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa late Wednesday ordered his Fire Department chief to stop withholding basic information about responses to medical emergencies. The mayor's unusually blunt order came after a day in which council members criticized the department for halting its years-long practice of providing the public with basic rescue response details, including times, locations and the nature of emergencies, as well as the age and gender of victims.