Patient Privacy

America’s Health Care System Increasingly Unsafe

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The blue and white “H” signs signifying a nearby hospital should be symbols of safety and help for those in need of medical care. But increased privacy intrusions, growing threats to parental rights, and encroaching government regulations that diminish quality of care have all contributed to making our nation’s health care system an increasingly unsafe place for Americans. 

House to Vote Tuesday on Newborn Blood Screening without Parental Consent

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2014 (H.R.1281), which would extend for five years the funding program that allows states to collect and store newborn DNA without parental consent.

Oppose Federal Plan to Eliminate All Patient Privacy. DEADLINE: WED., JUNE 25

The federal government is planning to eliminate privacy protections for medical records regarding treatment for alcohol and drug abuse and treatment for mental health conditions. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will hold a public listening session on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, to solicit public comments on this proposal.

Babies Die from Federal Medical Experiments

Federal officials are defending an unconscionable act. Between 2005 and 2009, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported research on 1,316 premature newborns without requiring parents to be told their baby could die and the baby’s oxygen monitor would not show their child’s true oxygen level. 

Florida Becomes First State to Ban Scanning Kids for Biometric Data

ST. PAUL, Minn.—As schoolchildren in Florida prepare for the exciting end of the year, their parents can celebrate a victory and breathe a sigh of relief, too.

CCHF Comments on Biosurveillance

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom opposes the proposed National Health Security Strategy 2015-2018 (Public Comment Draft, April 10, 2014). We will limit our comments to a few items...

Government Biosurveillance Plan Proposes Warehousing Americans’ Health Information

We’ve all heard talk of NSA surveillance, but there’s another surveillance that aims to track American’s health records. Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org) is alerting Americans about the Obama Administration’s frightening biosurveillance (BSV) initiative, which would gather and analyze detailed health information that should be private and protected.

Biosurveillance One Health

I recently stumbled upon two alarming intertwined initiatives. One is “One Health,” described in more detail later. The other is published by the Obama Administration. Called the National Strategy for Biosurviellance, it specifically states,

“A well-integrated, national biosurveillance enterprise is a national security imperative.”

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Tells ‘HIPAA Hurt Me’ Stories to Unveil the Dangers of Coercive ‘Privacy’ Form

If there’s one myth about patient privacy that Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org) wants to dispel, it’s that HIPAA protects patients.

Exactly the opposite is true, says CCHF, a Minnesota-based national organization dedicated to preserving patient-centered health care and protecting patient and privacy rights.
 

10 Year Anniversary of National Health Information Technology Office Marks 10 Years of Violating Patient Privacy and Compromising Care

Ten years ago, on April 27, 2004, President George W. Bush issued an executive order to begin computerizing Americans’ medical records without patient consent. His order to set up the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology was a push toward an interoperable, online-accessible national medical records system. Five years later, President Obama and Congress made the Office permanent through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.