JoAnne Sweeny writes: Indiana passed a new abortion law last week that has made the news. Senate Bill 340 requires that doctors gather data about women who come to see them about “abortion complications,” ostensibly to improve patient health and safety. Sounds good in theory but the law is so broadly drawn it quickly becomes clear that…
Category: Healthcare
UK: Foster family received death threats after data leak
George Greenwood reports: A foster family received death threats after their details were accidentally released by a hospital. Their names, address and mobile phone numbers were disclosed to the birth family of a child they were caring for, forcing them to leave their home. Across London, reports of data breaches in child protection departments are…
Facebook sent a doctor on a secret mission to ask hospitals to share patient data
Christina Farr reports: Facebook has asked several major U.S. hospitals to share anonymized data about their patients, such as illnesses and prescription info, for a proposed research project. Facebook was intending to match it up with user data it had collected, and help the hospitals figure out which patients might need special care or treatment….
Medical Ethics: UK Uses Data From Doctors to Find Migrants
AP reports: To track down people in Britain who may have broken immigration rules, the government is turning to a new and controversial source of information: doctors. Doctors who work with refugees and asylum-seekers have described the move as a major breach of medical ethics, saying it isn’t up to physicians to enforce immigration rules….