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View Full Version : Telling 3rd parties about medical information.


learjetrt
Sep 1, 2011, 11:24 AM
I worked for a hospital, I was put on two new medications from my physician and they fired me because they did not feel I informed them as soon as I should have. I had signed a contract stating that if there were any changes in the medications, I needed to inform them. I did that, but not as soon as they felt I should have, so they fired me. My issue is more that I filed unemployment,and the unemployment board asked why I was let go, I told them they stated I violated the drug policy by not telling them soon enough about the medication. One medication was filled January 29th 2011, the other medication was filled February 17th. March 7th is when I told the employee health nurse. She did not seem to have a problem and we filled out a new form. The next day is when they fired me. They did not need any more details. Since that time, my employer filed an appeal to have my unemployment revoked and in turn, gave out all my medical information about what I was taking and why, they also told the licensing board of respiratory care my medical information. Are they allowed to give my medical information to a 3rd party like that. I see no reason why my medical information is any business of the unemployment board or licensing board. I can see where they can say I violated a policy, but to give detailed medical information does not seem right.

joypulv
Sep 1, 2011, 11:35 AM
They are allowed to provide your medical information. Again, medical information isn't as protected as many people think. In both cases, the parties have a vested interest in your situation: unemployment is there for layoffs, and only very rarely for people who have been fired, because it is paid for by the employer, and their rates go up each time someone collects. In order to appeal they had to provide the background of your firing, and that is their right.
The licensing board exists to protect the public. They have a very solid good reason to know all the details of your condition, surgery, medications, and firing.
After HIPAA was enacted far too many people thought it meant that their medical information was totally private, which just isn't true. And apparently the HIPAA grievance people have denied literally thousands of claims and approved only 1 or 2 for review. All because of misconceptions about privacy.

joypulv
Sep 1, 2011, 11:52 AM
Also I'm wondering why you are asking here when in your other post you said that a lawyer told you that you were wrongfully terminated. What is happening with that? Sometimes a good lawyer can reverse something like this.
And to add more to the main question, licenses don't get revoked just because someone is fired, but licenses do get revoked if details of the firing indicate a danger to the patients. If a surgeon has AIDS, he should not be working around open cuts, regardless of his rights to privacy in other places. Your condition and medication seem to be intertwined in a story involving an incident that you don't go into details about and that's fine, but they are all part and parcel of the determining factors regarding how safe you are around patients.
I might tend to agree with you somewhat about the unemployment, but given that the hospital had the right to appeal the benefits, they had to provide what the U office demanded. As stated, there are situations where a fired employee can collect, so U needs to know what the entire story is to decide. You can try your lawyer on that subject (or any of this) but you will probably be paying by the hour. If you found a contingency lawyer, that's great.