Fw: ACTION ALERT: LACK OF MEDICAL PRIVACY IS A PROBLEM THAT COULD GET WORSE

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ACTION ALERT: LACK OF MEDICAL PRIVACY IS A PROBLEM THAT COULD GET WORSE

Between loopholes in existing laws, and efforts to dilute the few protections that now exist, your medical privacy's in jeopardy. Two Bills are before Congress that need your attention.

DATELINE, FLORIDA: Using prescription records without consent, a Florida drug store chain mailed unsolicited samples of Prozac to prescription holders who were on record as taking anti-depressants. The drug store chain used the prescription records by exploiting a loophole in the HIPAA laws that allow medical records to be used for "patient education."DATELINE, PAKISTAN: An overseas medical transcriber threatened to post online the hospital files of 30,000 patients unless her fee was promptly paid. The overseas transcriber was a sub-contractor of a U.S. transcription service. The hospital administration didn't know that the records had been sub-contracted overseas. These are just two of the stories reported by Patient Privacy Rights (PPR), a non-profit organization devoted to protecting the privacy of your health information, and to ensuring that your personal health information is used for better health, not exploited for financial gain. At PPR's site, you can learn about the two bills concerning Medical Privacy Protection that are currently before Congress. The "Wired" Act dilutes what little protections we now have. We oppose this bill. The Pro(Tech)t Act is the stronger bill, and we support it along with even greater protections. Even though Congress has a lot on its hands this week, we want to make sure that the right bill is passed.Learn more at www.patientprivacyrights.org. Click on the Consumers/Take Action link to send an email to your Senator and Congressperson about these pending bills. Thank you.

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