I am new to this site. I searched for similar situations here but cannot find anything quite like mine so here's my very long situation and question:

I use a local chain superstore's pharmacy. Recently I went into the pharmacy and picked up 3 prescriptions that I had left to be filled. I did not recognize the pharmacy clerk who helped me but when I gave her my name, she literally began to stammer and her face turned bright red. My last name is unique and my husband and I are the only people in our town with the name but at the time I didn't know why she had such a visual reaction when I gave her my name. She entered my name into her computer monitor, viewed something on screen then quickly walked away to look for my prescriptions. It took her a very long time to locate them. It was quite evident at the time that she was completely flustered.

When she returned with my prescriptions, she looked at the label information on the prescription bottles, pushed the bottles roughly into a bag, tossed the bag onto the consultation counter a few feet away and, without ever looking up at me, told me rudely I needed to talk to the pharmacist because "it was a new prescription". Then she turned her back to me and walked away. I distinctly remember the incident because I was upset. I had been a customer at this superstore for years but I had never been treated so rudely and unprofessionally by anyone there. After the incident I even remarked to a friend how odd and unsettling the experience had been.

About two weeks after this pharmacy incident, my husband of twenty years, informs me he is filing for divorce and that he has a girlfriend. I was stunned. We had been separated but we were in the midst of a long planned, long agreed to, legal separation--divorce had not ever been discussed. The girlfriend was a new acquisition on his part. My husband told me they had only begun their affair 2 months earlier. He said he had started "dating" the girlfriend after he filed for the legal separation but he quickly decided to change the legal separation to divorce because now he had "found something good" and he no longer wanted to be married to me.

Not long after after my husband made me aware of the divorce and his girlfriend I learned from my husband's family that his new girlfriend worked for the superstore where my prescriptions are filled and specifically, that she worked in the PHARMACY. It seems she was indeed the clerk who had looked up my personal information and given me my prescriptions weeks earlier. Now I know why she had the reaction to my last name. Now I find out that she had been "dating" and having sexual relations with my husband at the time she accessed my prescription information at the superstore.

First I am furious the superstore would allow a woman who was having a sexual affair with a customer's husband to even WORK in the pharmacy much less complete a pharmacy transaction for that customer's wife. Second, I am angry because I know the woman REALIZED I was the wife of the man she was having a sexual affair with when I gave her my name. Even then she didn't stop the transaction and insist someone else in the pharmacy assist me. Third, I actually saw the girlfriend input my name into the pharmacy computer and I saw her retrieve all of my private information. Because of her romantic involvement with my husband (not to mention the sexual affair she was having with him) she had to have known she was (at the very least) compromising my privacy when she accessed my personal information.

Needless to say, I am no longer using that pharmacy but the damage is done. At best this employee's behavior must be an ethics violation but I am also wondering if it is a HIPAA violation as well. I know she passed along information about my current medications to my husband but I don't know how I can prove it. Since this incident my husband has began to refer to me as "mental" and "nuts" when talking to his friends. He even says it to my face whenever something happens with the divorce that he is not happy about. I think he has began to use these terms because his girlfriend told him I'm on anti-depressants and anxiety medication. I don't know why his girlfriend would tell him this information but I suspect she believes it will endear him to her. Amazingly, just 10 days after my encounter with the girlfriend in the pharmacy, my husband purchased a $1200 engagement ring for her. I believe the ring was her "reward" for the information she gave him about me but how can I prove anything like that?

Thank you for suffering through this long, long post. I tried to condense as much as possible but given the circumstances I felt providing too much info was better than too little. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated. I have sent a complaint about this to the DHHS/OCR but I'm sure it will take forever to receive any response from them. I tried to complain to the superstore but they told me there was no one I could talk to about this for 3 days so I thought I'd do some research myself. Thank you all.

No, you received bad customer service,

1. even if you were living together, she only saw what info she is allowed to see,

2. you are separated a legal separation, and he is free basically in the eyes of almost anyone to date.

3. unless she is dating a boss at the place, they don't care who she dates,

4 there is no law that your separated ( even non separated ) husbands girlfriend can not wait on you.

You are making way too much out of this, in fact you should be the one sorry for causing this drug store so much problem for nothing.

You are mad at your ex and trying to cuase everone else a problem.

Move on and get a life.

I'm sorry to hear about the tough times you are going through. I think you're doing the right thing by taking your business elsewhere. But I see nothing that would be a HIPPA violation here, unless the woman shared your medical information with your husband. That would be hard to prove, as husbands are usually already aware of the medications that their wives take. The fact that the pharmacy is employing someone who is having an affair with your husband has nothing to do with HIPAA. As for it being an ethical violation - perhaps a failing on the woman's part, but I doubt that her employer knows what's going on. Also, it would certainly have created a bigger scene if she had outright refused to serve you, which seems to be what you suggest would have been proper. How would she have explained her refusal to serve a customer to her employer?

I'm so sorry, Fr_Chuck! I didn't realize I posted my question to the 'Slap me Silly then Stomp me 'til I'm Bloody' area of this website

Thank you for the gentle touch, marty64. I'm really not a bad or evil person. I am simply bruised and battered from this whole divorce experience.

Add to that the fact my 77 year old mother passed away June 3rd, my 91 year old aunt (my mother's sister) passed away 3 days later, my dog died the week of my mother's funeral and my husband's young dog was run over and killed the same day as my mother's and aunt's joint funeral. As a final blow, last Friday night my husband's grandmother (age 89) fell and broke her hip. (She survived surgery but was moved to hospice today and given no chance of recovery.) Soon my daughter is starting college and I'm trying to pay for that (I retired 4 years ago with the promise from my husband that he would support us... ). I get no financial assistance for anything from the Hubby. Somehow he feels he doesn't need to support our daughter in any way now that she is 18 (but he had no problem paying $1200 for a ring for the 'creature' he started having sex with 3 months ago... )

I'm just overwhelmed by the injustice of everything right now. Sorry for the pity party but I'm angry, depressed and tired. It's all I can do to 'hang on' much less have a 'good' attitude about life and "moving on".

Again thank you for the kind words. They are much appreciated.

Okay, I am presently managing a Pharmacy. Firmly tongue in cheek - I don't print out a list of customers, hand it to my employees and say, "Don't have sex with any of these people or their family members." Ridiculous.

I also don't say, "If the spouse of anyone you're having sex with comes in to have a prescription filled, don't fill it. Give it to someone else."

It's a Pharmacy, not the moral police.

As far as your personal information - you don't think your husband filled her in on every problem in your marriage as well as every medication you take very early in the game? I truly doubt he had to sleep with the Pharm Tech in order to get this information. He could open the medicine cabinet and look - if he cared enough to do so. Just what info was on the computer that she could access that he didn't already know? You have no way of knowing whether his opinion that you are "mental" and "nuts" is in any way related to this incident.

If he didn't know you're on antidepressants and anxiety medication the problem isn't his relationship with her, the problem is between you and your husband. He didn't need to get the info from her - your medical records will be subpoenaed during the divorce if they are an issue.

As far as a ring as a "reward" for obtaining the information - maybe he bought her an engagement ring because he wants to be engaged to and eventually marry her. Tacky, at best, when he's still married to you but I don't think it's any kind of "reward."

I see no HIPAA violation at all and I, quite frankly, see no ethical violation - the fact that she was suddenly face to face with you probably was a shock to her and she acted accordingly.

I think your anger and complaints should be directed toward your husband - the Pharm Tech took no vows with you, owed you no loyalty, didn't cheat on you, was doing her job. You have absolutely no proof that she discussed anything with your husband.

Your anger and hurt are misdirected.

Perhaps you would be happier posting this info on a relationship site - this is a legal board and you are getting legal advice which is making you unhappy and which you do not want to hear. This is not the kind words board - unfortunately.

Maybe this should be moved - ?

Again - your anger at the "creature" (as well as your choice of words) is misplaced. Your husband violated your trust. I'm not saying this woman deserves any medals but she owed you no loyalty. He did.

Again - relationship/mental health question - ?

First, I see nothing wrong in Chuck's response. This is a legal board and his answer was right on with the law. Second I agree you have way overreacted here. You were in a legal sepration, that means both of you had the right to see other people. So the clerk was doing NOTHING wrong in dating your husband. While it might have been politic for the clerk to get someone else to wait in you, that would have meant explaining why she didn't want to whichc would be more embarrassing to her. She did her job, maybe poorly, but still she did her job.

So no HIPAA violation, no ethics violation.

Sorry.

Two points:

First, I disagree with ScottGem, at least in part. Fr_Chuck's comments on the law may or may not have been "right on." But his remarks that

"You are making way too much out of this, in fact you should be the one sorry for causing this drug store so much problem for nothing. You are mad at your ex and trying to cuase [sic] everone [sic] else a problem. Move on and get a life."

have nothing to do with the law. They are moral judgments, and under the circumstances they were insensitive as well as irrelevant. The response from S0yearwife was technically out of line, but it's understandable.

Second, I'm not sure it's correct that there's been no HIPAA violation. A document on the website of the Pennsylvania College of Technology says, in part,

"Patients may access their own health records. The definition of 'patient' also includes the surviving spouse, the parents of a deceased patient, or a person the patient appoints in writing as a legally recognized representative... A person may not access their spouse's personal information without an authorization (or consent) from the patient."

If the pharmacist did in fact divulge personal health information to 20yearwife's husband, that would be a HIPAA violation. The question then becomes, can you prove she did?

I don't disagree that Chuck's remarks as quoted did make a value judgement. But I disagree that they were insensitive or irrelevant. Sometimes the nature of a post requires more than the just a specific answer. As I read the OP's post, I had the same reaction that Chuck did. What we had was a woman upset at the breakdown of her marriage. That upset resulted in an overreation to an incident. Sometimes we have to be harsh in our replies because the truth sometimes hurts.

As to the HIPAA violation, there is no apparent violation. Yes its possible that the pharmacy worker revealed information about the OP's health care to her boyfriend. But we have no evidence of that at all. The OP's question was whether there was a violation by the pharmacy worker accessing her info. Since she did so in the performance of her duties, the answer is no.

What really bothered me about the OP's post was her shock that they would employ someone having an affair with a customer's husband. An employee's private life is just that, private. There was no reason for the store to know anything about who the clerk was dating. And there was nothing wrong in that dating since there was a legal separation. So I agree with Chuck that the OP is trying to make trouble for the store based on her being upset at the breakup of her marriage.

First - your initial response to FrChuck was so offensive that it was pulled.

Again - this is not the warm and wonderful sensitive board. This is the legal board. The law is black, the law is white. If people are looking to be personally ratified, this is not the place. The legal advice is sound.

Second, if anyone divulged anything, it wasn't the Pharmacist - it was the tech.

Again - read my post. I operate a Pharmacy. There is absolutely not a shred of proof that the tech told the husband anything. Sounds like the OP is busy running all over town, getting and giving info. Would be real difficult to prove what came from her and what came from the tech.

And do you think if the woman is on antidepressants and anxiety medication the husband would not have noticed - ? She is obsessed with this situation and apparently running all over town, as I said, gathering and disseminating "info."

Again - you can accuse anyone of anything. Where is the proof?

I don't know how many HIPAA classes you've attended but I've attended more than a few and this is NOT a violation. Your quote refers to LAYPERSONS obtaining the information. If you would believe that quote to be the entire law a PHARMACIST couldn't fill anyone's prescriptions but his/her own!

The OP is more upset about the husband's relationship with this woman - check the attitude and the words she uses to describe her, complete with the cost of the engagement ring (by the way, husband is not a big spender) - than she is with anything else. Everything from her user name to her response to Frchuck indicate how angry and upset she is.

Again - wrong board for the rest of this.

Simply to clarify:

1) There is NO legal separation. In my post I said "he filed for the legal separation but he quickly decided to change the legal separation to divorce". I was NEVER served with a legal separation petition. I only know the legal separation petition was filed because a copy of it was attached to the Dissolution of Marriage petition that I WAS served.

2) "Your sarcasm and flip attitude are totally out of line." I see my post to Fr_Chuck as a response in kind. I apologize for misunderstanding the "legal only" aspect of this board.

#) I am not "trying to make trouble for the store based on being upset". I am upset because the store allowed someone who has a vested interest in my divorce to view my PHI without my permission.

I worked for a University for 20 years. I am familiar with FERPA regulations. Both FERPA and HIPAA exist primarily to protect rights of privacy. My employment at the University required me to "err on the side of caution" when accessing information. I was trained NOT to access the personal information of anyone with whom I had a 'personal connection' because in doing so I could possibly compromise that person's privacy. I mistakenly believed privacy regulations in a pharmacy would be as cautionary.

While I can accept points 1 & 2, the third point is the crux of the issue. The store did NOT "allow" anything of the sort. They had no knowledge of the relationship nor should it be expected that they would. Also, in smaller towns, there is often such a situation. It is not a violation for such a person to view your records. It IS a violation for her to impart that information to anyone else. And you have no proof that she did.

Well, I'm even having trouble with #1 and #2 - and some other things as well.

#1 - OP and husband were NOT separated so if he didn't know she's depressed and/or anxious there are several other factors at play here. Makes it all the more difficult to prove a violation. He could have looked in the medical cabinet. Also no indication that the prescribed medication is the reason he thinks she's "nuts."

#2 - I don't think Frchuck was rude. FrChuck doesn't need me to defend him but he tells it like he sees it and that's what he did. For OP to excuse her own bad behavior with a "respond in kind" makes her look small.

#3 - The STORE "allowed someone who has a vested interest in my divorce to view my PHI without my permission." How did the store know or under what HIPAA - or FERPA, now that you've brought that into the equation - regulation was the store required to know your husband was sleeping with the Pharm Tech? Again - I don't pass out lists of names and questionnaires to check on relationships.

When a prescription comes in I don't call all the Techs together and say, "Is anyone here sleeping with this person?"

I also fail to see why you are so upset about this - your medical history will come out in the divorce; if your husband refers to you as "nuts" I'm sure he's already told her why he thinks that so it was no shock to her.

I don't know what State you are in - and that might be helpful - but you were served with both a Petition for a legal separation AND a divorce petition? He wants either/or - ?

I'm in Oregon and this is a small town.

I was served with a Dissolution of Marriage petition only. Attached to that petition was a copy of a previously filed Legal Separation petition. I was never served with the Legal Separation petition; I saw it only because it was an attachment to the more recently dated Dissolution of Marriage petition.

In regards to my PHI, what should I expect in regards to privacy? Does it come down to "if a pharmacy hires a tech and the tech waits on me, I am no longer entitled to any of the protections offered by HIPAA?" I'm not being sarcastic, I am trying to understand.

You are entitled to privacy. You have no proof that the Tech violated that privacy.

Maybe she should have been smarter and walked away, but she wasn't. Maybe she was the only Tech. Maybe she didn't want to cause a ruckus. I don't know.

But you are entitled to privacy and confidentiality.

And, again - no, you are entitled to not be married to a man who is sleeping with "your" pharmacy tech.

You are entitled to ALL the protections offered by HIPAA, but you need to understand what they are. Basically HIPAA prohibits a healthcare worker from revealing any information about your healthcare to anyone else without your permission. There is no evidence that was done.

I want to thank everyone who took their time to educate and inform me. I learned a lot. I wish I had done a better job of asking my question. And I apologize if I offended anyone; that was not my intent.

"When a prescription comes in I don't call all the Techs together and say, "Is anyone here sleeping with this person?"

Aw Judy, that would be a wonderful announcement over the PA system in the store and would have caused the shoppers to either laugh or cry out in anguish. You're naughty, but nice. It's a great idea though and I kind of like it. Solves a lot of complicated problems. You must run a rather progressive pharmacy up there in New York land.

Unfortunately, in the real world we sometimes have no idea just who is waiting on us in a store. You just truly overreacted in this situation. You have been under quite a lot of stress.

There is no violation of your privacy that I can ascertain here 20year. Sorry. The clerk didn't just blurt out for all the store to hear that you're taking X, Y, and Z pills did she? No. Then there is no violation. Trying to prove she told your soon to be ex husband what you are taking is irrelevant also as it was pointed out all your medical records can/will be subpoenaed if your husband's attorney wants to for court reasons. There is nothng that cannot be subpoenaed for court purposes, nothing. Sorry no privacy in a divorce either and FYI they don't abide by HIPAA or FERPA or whatever. They are the Judge and the Judge is the law and he abides by the law.

As a medical professional myself, I can assure you that you have no absolute proof that she told your husband about your medical condition. Why? Because many antidepressants are used for a number of other ailments. Some antidepressants are prescribed for sleeping problems, others prescribed for migraines, etc. But rarely is the REASON they are prescribed written directly on the prescription itself. So, in essence, if she did tell your husband, it is only a guess as to why these meds were prescribed.

As to the tech, it is not on any application, nor is it even legal, to ask who a person is sleeping with. Apparently when this woman saw you, she got flustered, possibly even mad depending on what your ex told her about you.

Now, as for the divorce, if it becomes ugly enough your husband's attorney can subpoena your medical records. Then your medical conditions will be revealed. But not until then.

I am sorry you are having to go through all of this, and it was a wise decision to change pharmacies, but there is no HIPAA violation here.