Were my HIPAA rights violated? What should I do now?
I recently went to a new dentist since I had not been to one in more than three years. The reason I went was because I had broken a tooth and now it was abcessed and needed a root canal procedure (per the dentist). The dentist looked at my x-rays and tooth and prescribed me pain medication and antibiotics. I then dropped it off at a local pharmacy and went back a few hours to pick them up. Well a few days before my scheduled root canal procedure was to start, I received a call from the dentist and he said that he would prefer that I go to another office for the actual procedure and come back to theirs for the crown. I told him I was confused and wanted to know why the change. He then tells me that the pharmacist that filled my prescription called him and told him that I was currently under investigation for allegedly stealing narcotic pain pills from residents that I was the property manager for. I was in fact investigated and charged with the crime but it was proven in court that my fingerprints were not found at the residence or on the prescription bottle and that the lady that reported it just had a personal issue with me. Needless to say, everything was dropped and was never made public record. After hearing him tell me this, I was extremely upset. However since my husband and , daughter (who is 9) also hadn’t been to the dentist in over three years they went to this office for a checkup. My daughter was afraid so I went into the room with her. While sitting there, the licensed hygenist was very kind and funny making my daughter feel at ease. We began a bit of small talk and she asked me where I worked and I told her. She said what a small world, her step-mother, and step-sister both worked there with me. That was that. About 5 days after that I get a phone call from a co-worker telling me that this co-worker of mine who ended up being the step-sister of the hygenist was going around the entire restaurant giving her version of what her step-sister told her about me, my medical records and what I was charged with. I felt completely violated. How dare that dentist discuss me with his employees but for the hygenist to then tell her family who then told my entire company! Do I have a case?:mad: :mad: :mad:
