"The HIPAA Privacy rule does not apply when the patient is a public health risk."

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:John Giovanni Pierni
@jpierni
MAJOR NEWS!

Khizr Khan just sent a stern warning to Trump's Doctor's on Rachel Maddow.

The HIPAA Privacy rule does not apply when the patient is a public health risk.

They can be pursued by law.

We want to know Trump's covid health records.

Retweet
6:44 PM · Oct 8, 2020

[dchill]

1. I don't think NDA's are enforceable, either.

Trump's doctors have sacrificed their credibility and their careers, IMO.

[Nevilledog]

2. I think the only restrictions enforceable are clearance restrictions.

[crickets]

5. +1

[GummyBearsRYummy]

3. what is the law?

which law is this?

[Nevilledog]

4. HIPAA

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/disclosures-public-health-activities/index.html

Disclosures for Public Health Activities
45 CFR 164.512(b) (Download a copy in PDF - PDF)

Background

The HIPAA Privacy Rule recognizes the legitimate need for public health authorities and others responsible for ensuring public health and safety to have access to protected health information to carry out their public health mission. The Rule also recognizes that public health reports made by covered entities are an important means of identifying threats to the health and safety of the public at large, as well as individuals. Accordingly, the Rule permits covered entities to disclose protected health information without authorization for specified public health purposes.

[GummyBearsRYummy]

10. ty

ty

[SheltieLover]

13. Welcome to DU!

[Grasswire2]

6. what about the NDA all his doctors have had to sign? nt

[Nevilledog]

7. From what I've read, they are not enforceable.

[SheltieLover]

14. That was my 1st thought, too

But always that "gray area" to allow for $millions in litigation.

[SunSeeker]

16. Not enforceable, but can be effective for intimidation.

Using NDAs on government employees and medical personnel is very different than in the business world Trump is familiar with. Bradley Moss, a prominent attorney specializing in federal employment and national security law, told me that NDAs forced on government workers — including those at Walter Reed — are unenforceable. “The government has no authority under the First Amendment to censor unclassified information, no matter how embarrassing it might be,” he said. 
That is why Trump could not stop Omarosa from talking despite her NDA. https://www.lawfareblog.com/why-white-house-cant-stop-omarosa-manigault-newman-talking

Moss said that neither President Barack Obama nor President George W. Bush, nor any other president he knows of, tried to silence government employees in the way Trump does with NDAs, because those presidents knew they would have no legal force. So why does Trump do it? “This is legal puffery by a man with a mob boss mentality,” said Moss.

But even if those NDAs can’t be enforced, demanding that people sign them is an act of intimidation that can help Trump maintain a veil of secrecy around his presidency. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/08/why-trumps-demand-non-disclosure-agreements-walter-reed-is-so-alarming/ And that is dangerous for the country. NDAs in government should be illegal.

[dalton99a]

8. Does the Federal Health Information Privacy Law Protect President Trump?

https://khn.org/news/hipaa-federal-health-privacy-law-protection-president-trump/

Does the Federal Health Information Privacy Law Protect President Trump?

The experts we consulted all agreed that Trump’s doctors are bound by HIPAA. Since he is their patient, they cannot share his medical information without his consent.

Patients can allow some information to be released while demanding that other bits be withheld.

That may be why the public has been given only select details about Trump’s COVID-19 status, such as when Conley discussed the president’s blood pressure reading but not the results of his lung scans.

Trump “can pick and choose what he wants to disclose,” Pritts said.

So it is up to Trump to give his doctors the green light to report to the public on his condition.

“HIPAA does not prevent the president of the United States from authorizing the disclosure of all publicly relevant information,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University. “He can share it if he wanted to and he can tell his doctors to share it.”

Elizabeth Gray, a teaching assistant professor of health policy and management at George Washington University, said that because Conley shared some medically private information with the American public, there must have been a conversation between the president and his doctors about what was OK to include in their press briefings.

“He would have had to have given his authorization,” said Gray. In other words, Trump OK’d the details his doctors mentioned, but when follow-up questions were asked, she said, HIPAA was “a shield” because “the president hadn’t authorized the release of anything else.”

[Nevilledog]

9. The public health section I linked to above in an exception to the privacy requirements.

[SheltieLover]

15. Ty, NevilleDog

[LeftInTX]

17. No one can enforce it without impeaching him and you know how that went