Health Information Management

DOJ limits privacy-related prosecutions

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, June 13, 2005

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Although HIPAA's privacy rule allows the government to prosecute healthcare organizations for criminal violations of the rule, employees of these organizations are not automatically covered by the law and may not be subject to criminal penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ recently issued the opinion, which could stop federal prosecutors from pursuing some of the more than 13,000 complaints that have been filed alleging privacy rule violations. The DOJ's opinion was written June 1 by its Office of Legal Counsel in response to questions from the DOJ's criminal division and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Click here to view the published opinion.



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