Posted by Greg on January 28, 2003, at 18:05:35
In reply to Medical records privacy, posted by agencypanic on January 28, 2003, at 15:44:20
> Can anyone tell me what procedures an individual or government entity
> would have to go through to gain access to my medical records?I'm not 100% sure, but I think that for any individual or government body to gain access to your medical records *without your authorized signature*, they would have to have a court order. For an individual, such in the case of a child custody battle, a lawyer could petition the court for your records in the hopes of showing you to be an unfit parent. Or if on the job you exhibited unusual behavior that caused injury to you or to another employee, your employer might petition the court for your records to see if you had a history mental instability.
With government agencies it really is a different ballgame although they'll tell you it isn't. The government can get a warrant to get any type of record at the drop of a hat, often without due cause. The more powerful ones like the FBI, the IRS, etc., can walk into a doctors office demand a patient's record, and scare the poor person behind the desk into giving it to them. Is it legal? No. Is it real life? Absolutely.
The grey area here is would an illegally obtained medical record hold up in a court of law? I would hope not. Bottom line is that your medical records are not public domain.
I hope this helps.
Greg
poster:Greg
thread:35878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030120/msgs/35889.html