Richard Read reports: The Oregon House unanimously passed a bill Monday that would protect the confidentiality of conversations between sexual-assault survivors and their advocates. Legislators wrote the bill to keep information from being released by clinics including college-counseling centers, such as the University of Oregon office that gave UO lawyers therapy records of a student who sued the school, alleging she’d been raped by…
Category: Healthcare
AU: Some chemists are selling patients’ prescription information so drug companies can increase their profits
news.com.au reports: Some chemists are selling their patients (sic) prescription information to a global health information company which sells it on to pharmaceutical companies trying to boost their sales. Doctor and consumer groups have expressed outrage about the practice they fear may impinge on patient privacy. […] …. the Australian general manager of health information giant IMS,…
Giving Out Private Data for Discount in Insurance
Tara Siegel Bernard reports that insurer John Hancock is introducing a program that has been successful in South Africa where by insured members earn discounts on their premiums by living healthier lifestyles and by sharing their data with the insurer: The program, being announced Wednesday, will apply to both term and universal life insurance policies…
University of Oregon quietly diminishes privacy protections at student counseling center, despite promises
Richard Read reports: University of Oregon Provost Frances Bronet acted decisively last month after the school received nationwide criticism for accessing a rape survivor’s therapy records for a lawsuit. Bronet assured students in a March 20 memo that UO’s counseling center would keep records confidential barring extraordinary circumstances. She urged them to use university mental-health services without fear. Meanwhile, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned, the…