Clarification on HIPAA lawsuit against Walgreens
http://pathologyblawg.com/medical-news/clarification-on-hipaa-lawsuit-against-walgreens/
From the article:
Since HIPAA does not have a private right of action, common folks like you and I cannot use HIPAA directly in a privacy lawsuit, only the government can sue with HIPAA (civilly and criminally I might mention). What private citizens have been doing, though, is proving to the court that if a HIPAA violation occurred, then this violation serves as a breach of duty by the health care professional in negligence cases, fiduciary duty cases, and straight forward violation of privacy cases.
Second, in a 2006 state court case (attached), the North Carolina Court of Appeals allowed HIPAA to be used to demonstrate the standard of care element in a psychiatric privacy case where the plaintiff sued for negligent infliction of emotional distress. If one can use HIPAA as the standard of care and show HIPAA was violated, then the next logical step is that the health care professional breached a duty owed to the plaintiff by violating the standard of care. After that, all that remains is proving damages.
As healthcare providers consolidate.. and pharmacy is no exception.. I would suspect that >50% of the “doors” are under the logo of maybe a dozen different names… the “pockets” tend to get “deeper”.. and attorneys love “deep pockets”.. We all know that HIPAA violations are part of the daily grind in the the Rx dept..
It is common knowledge that the surplus of attorneys makes the surplus of Pharmacists a non issue.. and how many of these HIPAA violations will just be settled.. however.. if you are a Pharmacist or a tech in a state that requires licensing.. and you are involved in “violating a standard of care”… could you also be brought before the BOP for unprofessional conduct ?
Filed under: General Problems
hi I am desperately seeking help here is there a way I can find out if a another pharmacy besides the one I go to all the time looked up my medication history
Are you referring to the state’s PMP or another store within a chain that you currently patronize. The only people that can look at your medical history – under HIPAA – is a healthcare professional that you see or potentially going to see.. like having a upcoming first time appt.or a pharmacy that you are a first time customer and have presented a prescription to be filled. You could try contacting the state’s PMP and see if they will give you a report on who has requested a report on your prescription activity. It has been a while since I pulled a PMP report.. but.. as I remember… the report does not show who has pulled a report.. just what control meds a pts has had filled at which pharmacies and from which doctors. The HIPAA law may give you the right to request from the PMP who has requested reports… just have to call them and ask…
I am sorry but these pharmacist do not to be forgiven..they need to be treated just like any other law breaker. At least called before the board of pharmacy for unprofessional conduct.. If they don’t learn their lesson.. Need to be fined ..if they still don’t learn their lesson.. They need to be charged with patient abuse.. Defrocked and jailed maybe if they can’t abide and honor our pharmacist’s oath..then maybe they should not be pharmacists.
If there is a way I would volunteer to be first. My prescription was denied without even consulting computer or suggestions on where to get help. I will not say what I think of the professional at walgreens in Franklin Tennessee that denied my prescription stating they don’t carry it but filled it without comment when I mentioned he had it 15 minutes earlier when my doctors office called. I was lied to, forced to get a driver to take me a painful one hour trip to doctors office because local walgreens refused along with 4 others. Had to pay office visit just for doctor to locate medication. Thank you for bringing this up. I am not a criminal and sick of discrimination. I am 58