Do you think any/all individual medical information should be completely private? Should public servants need to publicly disclose health issue?

all 26 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 1 point 1 hour ago (2 children)

Hipaa/etc is privacy. Duty to report imminent danger does not break laws on private information. It's attribute vs action, and the two are all but orthogonal.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 0 points 27 minutes ago (1 child)

    patients should have ways of having their records be completely private if they want to the extent that patients should have the right to pay cash and not give the provider their name or id, this should not be the default because it would be highly inconvenient but it should be an option in my personal opinion if for no other reason than to give kids the right to get vaccinated behind their parents back.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] [S] 1 point 15 minutes ago*

    I mean, you can do that in the US. Offering to pay cash opens plenty of doors. I do fundamentally disagree with the last part though. I firmly believe parents need to be involved with any/all medical decisions. I'm not against emancipation in plenty of circumstances though.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 1 hour ago (3 children)

    In my country you could kill someone, get injured, go to the doctor to get treates and as long as you reasonably say that you won't do it again (e.g. it was your father who you hated) they are not allowed to say it (exceptions apply).
    Some people think this is bad, i think it is the only way such a law can work.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 hour ago* (2 children)

    I'm not following. You mean, say, you get stabbed and stab someone else. You go to the hospital, get it treated, the docs don't communicate that a crime likely happened to the cops, because of that confidentially?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 2 hours ago (1 child)

    Patient privacy best protected by a doctor's poor handwriting.

    Back when giants ruled the earth, a snooper need to trek across the country, ask a harried file clerk for the file that hopefully wasn't lost, wade through a a foot thick folder, then hopefully decipher the doctors shitty handwriting before finding out about anything juicy. In any case, the file was burned in 7 years or so because the file room needed space.

    Nowadays, any secretary can instantly access the data from a computer on the other side of the continent and the files are never purged.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 1 point 1 hour ago (1 child)

    only if its public health disease, like infections, or sudden high diagnosis of the same cancer in one area or if it involves criminal activities. everything else should be protected.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 12 points 3 hours ago (1 child)

    Do you think any/all individual medical information should be completely private?

    Yes. Pregnancy status and menstrual cycles are also considered medical information. Thus, whether someone is pregnant and why is nobody's business.

    Should public servants need to publicly disclose health issue?

    No. But they should be required to pass reasonable mental and physical acuity assessments administered by a board of qualified, unbiased, randomly selected physicians as a condition of holding office.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 2 hours ago (4 children)

    Do you think any/all individual medical information should be completely private?

    First, we don't have funny names for our laws. That is an advantage, because that way we don't have the need to explain such funny names, or their meanings. And then we can't forget to explain them when it is neccessary.

    Regarding your more specific question:

    I believe that nearly all individual medical information should be completely private.

    One exception is when the person owes such disclosure. For example you are a worker and you get sick so you can't do your job, then you have a duty to tell the boss/company that it is because of being sick (in such cases the boss does not need to know any further medical details), and you also have a duty to tell when that condition is over and you are able to fo your job again.

    Another exception is when a person has special needs because of a medical condition and somebody else must provide for these needs. You cannot assert a claim without a basis. In such cases you need to disclose more specific details. For example a pregnant woman can claim maternity leave from work, then she needs to disclose the fact that she's pregnant. Or an office worker has spine problems and the company must provide a special desk and chair, then the worker must disclose some details of his condition to back this claim.

    Should public servants need to publicly disclose health issue?

    Not at all. I cannot imagine a situation where this is needed.

    But there are some "very public" people like politicians or the pope, who usually disclose too many such details because they themselves think they owe this to the public.

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (3 children)

    Pretty much on board with everything you've said. But, what about disclosing that you have an STI/STD prior to sex with a new person? Should it be a crime not to? I know this is a new and different question but you gave a great initial answer.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 3 hours ago (1 child)

    I can think of at least one real life example you may be referencing.

    However, if we start checking medical records to determine fitness for the job, that opens the door for any employer to do the same, and some of you might not care, but I'd rather my boss not know the contents of my medicine cabinet.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 hour ago* (last edited 56 minutes ago)

    Yeah... politics over the last few years kinda inspired the question. But also just curious to see general opinions, I'm hoping someone dissents. I'd love to hear a compelling argument against. I will say plenty of jobs do look at your medical history/current status. I had to pass some medical tests to get my job. Couldn't be color blind, very unhealthy or have a high level of anxiety/low stress tolerance. The last part was pretty much just a can you not freak out when things are really intense list of yes or no's.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

    Public servants can range from 10-40% of the workforce. (Shout out cuba at 70%).

    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_public_sector_size

    If you want to invade the privacy of 10-40% of your population, why bother having privacy protections at all?

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 hours ago*

    Should public servants need to publicly disclose health issue?

    Yes, I want everyone to know about my chronic insomnia, PTSD, alcoholism, and depression. I think everyone has a right to know this.

  • source