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View Full Version : HIPPA Violation or not?


RC_Hawaii
Jul 12, 2008, 05:56 PM
Recently an employee of the Department of Public Safety sent an email to a reporter here in Hawaii which contained the names, addresses, physicians, and locations of plants for all 4,200 Medical Marijuana patients legally registered in the State of Hawaii.

Supposedly, the only people that have seen the list are the reporter, and the editor of the newspaper, but the DPS didn't even acknowledge the incident until after an article was published in the newspaper concerning it, then they waited another 10 days before sending a "form letter" of apology to all 4,200 patients on the list.

Isn't this a clear HIPPA violation because our identifiable personal information was contained in the list?

tickle
Jul 13, 2008, 05:20 AM
I would say that is a very serious breach of confidentiality.

RC_Hawaii
Jul 13, 2008, 08:20 PM
I would say that is a very serious breach of confidentiality.

That's exactly what I thought so I went ahead today and filed a HIPPA complaint form and I am meeting with a law firm next week about it.

Fr_Chuck
Jul 13, 2008, 08:41 PM
I am not sure Hippa, since the police are not medical personnel. But I am sure it is a violation of their rules. But you can try, since this info should not have been given out.