HIPAA causes hospital to refuse to provide info to federal judge
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 4, 2004
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Even federal judges must adhere to the HIPAA privacy regulations, as U.S. District Judge Garrett Brown found out Tuesday. The judge was set to preside over an insurance-fraud trial when defendant Derek Nicholson didn't show up, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Nicholson's lawyer explained that the defendant was in the intensive care unit of a hospital in New Jersey.
To hear this for himself, Judge Garrett called the hospital, only to be told that the information he wanted was confidential, restricted by HIPAA, and couldn't be relayed over the phone. When he offered to send a U.S. Marshal to transport someone from the hospital to the court, the judge was transferred to a supervisor.
Eventually Nicholson's lawyer received details from the hospital and relayed them back to the court, reported the Inquirer. According to court officials, the case has been postponed indefinitely.
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