HIPAA and celebrities (e.g. Whitney Houston's daughter)

[MH1]

So I'm watching CNN and they start talking about Bobbi Kristina Brown, Whitney Houston's daughter, who as you probably know, was taken to the hospital after being found unresponsive.

The announcer (sorry I'm not awake enough and I don't know CNN well enough to know who it was) makes a comment along the lines of "we don't know yet if there were drugs or alcohol involved".

That kind of pissed me off. WHY SHOULD WE EVER KNOW? Yes, realistically, we probably will at some point hear exactly what caused this young person's medical condition. But is it really any of our business?

And I thought of HIPAA, and how the whole point is that a person's medical details should not be revealed except to authorized persons. So who is the person who isn't just telling the media to go the f*ck away?

Okay, I'm fairly cranky this weekend for a whole bunch of reasons totally unrelated to this, except for the common thread that Mean People Suck. I think it's mean to slice and dice this person's psyche and situation in the media. I am not aware of anything that she has done to deserve it.

Is it just me? What do you all think?

[uriel1972]

1. Is it the hospital revealing the information?

or persons around the unfortunate. Or possibly the media is pulling it out of their posterior.
Unless the person talking is bound by the legislation they can probably talk their head off without repercussion.

[MH1]

2. There is a more detailed report now, and it is coming from the police

so far, I think. I.e. nothing found at the scene indicates drugs or alcohol.

I guess the cops are not subject to any privacy concerns.

Someone from the hospital or the family must have reported that she is now in a medically induced coma, but the announcer now stated that the hospital will not give more information on her condition (GOOD).



I'm going to turn off CNN now ... they are really the ones at issue here, I think. But I wonder, if (when) the info comes out, why said spokesperson for the family didn't tell them to just go the f away.

[hlthe2b]

3. Yes.. the info is coming from police, not hospital or HCWs...

The latter are restricted by HIPAA. Police are not held to that same standard on their official reports/actions.

[MH1]

4. True, that is how it appears. That said,

I am thinking maybe the police should be more restricted in what they talk about, when there is no risk to public safety and they are dealing with what should be private matters.

JMHO. I am sure someone else thinks "the public has a right to know". Sigh.

And, I don't blame the individual police officer if they have not been told not to speak to the media. They are only doing their job as they've been told to do it.