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The Obama administration adamantly denies it, but rumors are circulating in Washington that his Department of Health and Human Services is already collecting Americans’ private health information, or at least preparing itself to do so. Rep. Denny Rehberg, the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services and Education formalized the rumors by asking about them in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday. “Specifically, I have been told that HHS has already procured a contractor to build a database and that this contractor has already taken steps to acquire personal health care data...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Until recently, medical files belonging to nearly 300,000 Californians sat unsecured on the Internet for the entire world to see. There were insurance forms, Social Security numbers and doctors' notes. Among the files were summaries that spelled out, in painstaking detail, a trucker's crushed fingers, a maintenance worker's broken ribs and one man's bout with sexual dysfunction. At a time of mounting computer hacking threats, the incident offers an alarming glimpse at privacy risks as the nation moves steadily into an era in which every American's sensitive medical information will be digitized.

The adoption of electronic medical records, or EMRs, in U.S. hospitals has improved the quality of care in only one of three areas studied, and even in that area, the gains are limited, according to new research by the nonprofit Rand published this week in the American Journal of Managed Care. Not only did the researchers find no improvement in care when hospitals adopted EMRs for the first two conditions, pneumonia and heart attack, but they also found that the greatest improvements in care they saw were for people with heart failure in hospitals using only basic EMRs; where EMRs...

Sheriffs in North Carolina want access to state computer records identifying anyone with prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other controlled substances. The state sheriff's association pushed the idea Tuesday, saying the move would help them make drug arrests and curb a growing problem of prescription drug abuse. But patient advocates say opening up people's medicine cabinets to law enforcement would deal a devastating blow to privacy rights. Allowing sheriffs' offices and other law enforcement officials to use the state's computerized list would vastly widen the circle of people with access to information on prescriptions written for millions of people. As...

Organs 'Removed For Transplant Without Consent' It is illegal to take organs without consent. Organs may have been removed from deceased people without their consent after a data-handling error by the NHS. The blunder meant 800,000 people on the UK donor register had their wishes about the use of organs for transplant after death wrongly recorded. The Sunday Telegraph reported that 45 of them have now died - and 20 families let organs of relatives be taken based on incorrectly stored information. NHS Blood and Transplant said it was urgently investigating. Many donors give consent for some organs to be...

A search warrant executed on Tuesday authorized the seizure of records for more than 300 medical marijuana card holders, including doctors’ recommendations and personal contact information, after officers from the Grand Junction Police Department were called out to investigate a suspicious odor seeping from a building near the offices of the U.S. Census Bureau. The warrant, which was signed by District Judge Thomas Deister on Tuesday, allowed for Western Colorado Drug Task Force officers to seize records, “in order to verify who the current primary caregiver is,” for the approximately 308 patient files found inside a large marijuana grow at...

Hackers have demanded $10 million in ransom after hijacking nearly 8.3 million patient records. The data was stolen from an a government website used to track drug prescriptions in the American state of Virginia. Health officials called in the FBI after receiving a ransom demand which was posted on the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program's website Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1178276/Hackers-demand--10m-ransom-hijacking-millions-medical-records.html#ixzz0aRMtmyP9

Federal Powers: Where in the U.S. Constitution does it say the government can force people to buy health insurance? And by what authority does it prohibit the purchasing of insurance across state lines?A key part of the administration's plan to reform health care is what is called the "individual mandate" — a requirement that everyone must have health insurance either through his or her employer or purchased individually. A good chunk of the uninsured are that way of their own volition. They are young and healthy and feel they have better things to do with their money at this point...

Most Americans don’t realize we have elected a president whom we know very little about. Researchers have discovered that Obama’s autobiographical books are little more than PR stunts, as they have little to do with the actual events of his life. The fact is we know less about President Obama than perhaps any other president in American history and much of this is due to actual efforts to hide his record. This should concern all Americans. A nation-wide network of researchers has sprung up to attempt to fill in the blanks, but at every opportunity Obama’s high-priced lawyers have built...

“HR 3200: Section 1401, Page 503: The Government will build a central electronic database of ALL private medical records and may secure directly from any agency or department information necessary to carry-out the provisions of this Bill…” While President Obama’s Healthcare Plan contains a multitude of horrors, perhaps the worst is making available online to your local town government and police your complete personal records. Do not be calmed by assurances that these records will be assiduously protected and available only to proper channels for the purpose of ensuring your health. Let me suggest that this private information will be...

WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden plans to announce Thursday nearly $1.2 billion in grants to help hospitals transition to electronic medical records.

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53857 Obama Announces Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 9, 2009 – President Barack Obama announced plans today to create a joint virtual lifetime electronic record that will improve care and services to transitioning veterans by smoothing the flow of medical records between the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments. The concept, long advocated by officials in both departments, is considered a major step toward improving the delivery of care and services to servicemembers transitioning from military to civilian life. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and...

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Seminole County woman was expecting a new insurance card from Blue Cross, Blue Shield, but she got a lot more than that. The woman said she received a box filled with hundreds of personal, private medical records for other people. The brown box sitting on her front doorstep Friday morning, she said, didn't look too out of place. However, as soon as the Sanford woman opened it, she found stack after stack of people's private medical records that certainly weren't in the right place.

A long time ago, I called for the death penalty when it comes to individuals who break into computer systems for the purposes of malicious mischief. Such malfeasance costs businesses and individuals big bucks for security software. The punks have stolen millions of medical records and are blackmailing the government. The FBI is investigating a $10 million ransom demand by a hacker or hackers who say they have stolen nearly 8.3 million patient records from a Virginia government Web site that tracks prescription drug abuse, an FBI official confirmed Wednesday. This really takes balls or an assumption that if caught,...

The US federal government faces a long-term fiscal gap, which exceeds, from all indications, $70 trillion. This gap is the present value difference between all projected future expenditures and all projected future receipts. Its size reflects the impending retirement of 78m baby boomers and the fact that when retired, they will receive annual benefits from social security, Medicaid (the healthcare scheme for people on low incomes) and Medicare (for the elderly and disabled) that average more than per capita gross domestic product. The fiscal gap is the true measure of the nation’s net fiscal obligations because it puts explicit and...

(CNSNews.com) – Two top House Democrats told CNSNews.com on Friday that a section in the $787-billion economic stimulus bill that requires the creation of “electronic health records for each person in the United States by 2014” does not mean that the medical records of every American must be included in the new national infrastructure. In the bill, which passed both chambers of Congress on Friday and which President Obama is scheduled to sign Tuesday, $3 billion is allocated for a “National Coordinator for Health Information Technology” to create and meet the objectives of a strategic plan to build a national...

Final Stimulus Bill Creates Government Database that Will Hold Every American’s Personal Medical Records Thursday, February 12, 2009 By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) - The final version of the stimulus bill, negotiated by the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, includes a provision creating a federal data base that will hold the personal medical records of every American, Katie Grant, spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com Thursday. The full language of the final package had not been released as of press time. But the the bills that passed both the House and Senate created...

Buried in the bowels of the stimulus plan the Senate passed Tuesday are key healthcare provisions that will set America on the road to socialized medicine, involve the government in your choice of a doctor, and inevitably trigger another funding crisis that will be used to justify still greater federal intervention in America’s healthcare industry, experts tell Newsmax. Among the most controversial parts of the bill are new federal guidelines that will require the government, rather than a doctor, to decide whether a patient should get medical care. Ironically, the stimulus bill that will cost more than $1 trillion will...

President Obama has proposed spending about $20 billion in the economic-stimulus bill to computerize medical records within five years. Most experts agree this could add jobs, improve treatment and reduce costs. But at issue is privacy. Consumer groups worry that without adequate safeguards, information could be stolen or misused, while other groups fear that too many restrictions would hurt efficiency. Technology "is a significant part of the solution" to problems with medical records, ... "But there's a tension between protecting privacy and still allowing the transmission of data when it's appropriate." Consumer groups worry that without adequate safeguards, the information...

Lathrup Village, MI (LifeNews.com) -- An abortion practitioner in Michigan and his chain of abortions businesses were given probation on Wednesday in a case involving the illegal dumping of patient records. Last year, members of a local pro-life group found biohazard waste and medical records at the Womancare abortion business.

Lost among the language of Obama's "Economic Stimulus Package," aka "Welfare for Lobbyists," is a little-discussed provision to demand that every American submit to a government program for electronic medical records without a choice to opt out. The fact that this kicks HIPPA to the curb, not to mention all other right-to-privacy laws, including those under the FOIA, is bad enough. Having your medical records sold by GOOGLE to its advertisers makes this provision unconscionable. But, WAIT! There's more!" Towards the end of the article is this nugget:The Citizens' Council on Health Care has worked to publicize the issue in...

A little-discussed provision in President Obama's economic stimulus plan would demand that every American submit to a government program for electronic medical records without a choice to opt out, and it has privacy advocates more than a little alarmed. Patients might be alarmed, too, privacy advocates said, if they realized information such as documentation on abortions, mental health problems, impotence, being labeled as a non-compliant patient, lawsuits against doctors and sexual problems could be shared electronically with, perhaps, millions of people.

ABC News’ Kate Snow Reports: Governor Sarah Palin's campaign plans to release information regarding her medical history early this week, according to campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. Schmitt told ABC News by email on Sunday that she was not sure what day the records would be released but it would be "early this week". "We are working on this and it will happen sooner than later," Schmitt said. Last week, Governor Palin said she would be "fine" with releasing medical information. She is the only one of the presidential or vice presidential candidates who has not released any health information about...

(CNN) -- Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, 65, released his medical records Monday, detailing the treatment of two brain aneurysms in 1988 and other, mostly minor medical problems. Biden's Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, has not released any medical information. Biden's running mate, Obama, 47, has not released records either; his campaign did release a one-page summary of those records, which concluded concluded that he is in excellent health. The campaign of Sen. John McCain has derided Obama for running "on a doctor's note." McCain, 72, this spring offered reporters a glimpse of more than 1,100 pages...

Senator John McCain, hoping to become the oldest man inaugurated as president, is cancer-free and in general good health, according to medical records his campaign released yesterday and testimonials by his doctors. more stories like thisMcCain, who has survived four cases of melanoma, has not had a recurrence of the skin cancer since his last melanoma was removed in 2002, said his Mayo Clinic dermatologist, Dr. Suzanne M. Connolly. While McCain has minor ailments not uncommon for a 71-year-old man - such as a prior case of enlarged prostate - the senator is in good cardiovascular shape and is fit...

Three-time melanoma survivor John McCain appears cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in otherwise general good health, according to eight years of medical records reviewed by The Associated Press. "I do not see any worrisome lesions," Dr. Suzanne Connolly concluded after McCain's most recent exam, on May 12. His likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama, will be 47 in August. Obama, lean and agile and a frequent basketball player, says he has quit smoking. Neither he nor Democratic opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton has released health records. The details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning...

As Americans kick off the first holiday weekend of the summer Friday, Sen. John McCain will release 400 pages of his medical records to a handpicked group of reporters who can neither photocopy nor keep the documents, illustrating the sensitivity the campaign places on the 71-year-old candidate's age and health. For more than a year, the four-term senator has repeatedly promised to release his recent medical records, but has not yet done so. The McCain campaign has selected a handful of news organizations to review the records today in a conference room at the Copper Wynd Resort in Fountain Hills,...

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader. The pilot project to be announced Thursday will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public. Each health profile, including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories, will be protected...

But a huge story broke yesterday that got almost no attention because it was overshadowed by stories of people going to the polls voting. In fact, I would dare say that this story could have more impact on our lives in America in the next 20 years than the results of yesterday's midterm congressional elections. I'm talking about news of an imminent action by the New York City Board of Health to permit people born in the city to change the sex recorded on their birth certificates and, thus, change their legal sexual identity. Think about the implications of this...

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Monday asking state department heads to develop plans for spending $240 million creating electronic medical records for rural communities and health safety-net providers. The order also seeks ideas on developing public-private partnerships to improve information technology for hospitals, doctors and other health care providers. The governor made the announcement at a health summit in Los Angeles where he brought together leaders from business, labor unions, universities and patient advocacy groups to explore ways to lower health care costs and insure more people. Schwarzenegger also announced he wants to create new...

A man who purchased 41 tapes from the B.C. government found himself the unexpected owner of 77,000 personal medical files. The tapes included records such as HIV status, substance abuse history and mental illness. The man bought the tapes at a public government auction with the intention of selling them. The man, who assumed the tapes were blank when he purchased them, handed them over to the Vancouver Sun when he realized the information they contained. Minister of Labour Mike de Jong said an investigation is underway into how the sensitive records ended up on the auction block. "It is...

Judge Returns Records to Rush Limbaugh In an apparent legal victory for top talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, Florida Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull has returned most of his medical records to his attorney, Roy Black - thereby denying prosecutors "free rein" over Limbaugh's medical file.

Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull III ruled Tuesday that he will not restrict the number of investigators who will see the released portions of Rush Limbaugh's medical records. Investigators may have access to those records in the next few days. In a Tuesday court hearing, Barkdull said he will complete his review of the records this week. Investigators seized medical records from three of Limbaugh's Palm Beach County doctors and one Los Angeles doctor in late 2003. Barkdull will decide which records fall within the scope of search warrants used to seize the records and will give those portions to prosecutors...

Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, was the latest court hearing on the attempt by the Palm Beach County state attorney to get my medical records, to see what, if anything, might be in there that they could charge me with. They're on a fishing expedition and by their own admission I am guilty and have to prove myself innocent. They have no idea what to charge until they see the medical records and there was a hearing yesterday. What we've done on the website is we've posted the motion that we filed with the court yesterday, and it's a pdf file....

Unless you have a copy of his signed SF-180, you're not doing your job. If Kerry hasn't granted their release to the media by putting a reporter's name in Section III of the SF-180, you're not doing your job. If you don't evlaute what Kerry has asked to be released as specified in Section II of the SF-180, you're not doing your job.

Top talk radio host Rush Limbaugh called on DNC chief Howard Dean to release his medical records yesterday, after Dean said he was standing by his false allegation that Limbaugh was a cocaine addict. "It might be helpful if we could see his medical records," the radio host told his audience. "It might be helpful if we could get Dean's medical records and plaster them all over CNN because we won't really know the truth about anything until we get these medical records." Citing an interview last year where Dean admitted he had a drinking problem during his college days,...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Florida prosecutors head to court Monday to get access to Rush Limbaugh's medical records. Palm Beach County is investigating alleged prescription-drug abuse. Records were seized in late 2003. Prosecutors want to see if the radio commentator went "doctor shopping" for pain medication. Limbaugh has not been charged with any crime. He's denied any wrongdoing. Limbaugh's attorneys have fought the seizures, claiming a violation of privacy rights. But last month, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, clearing the way for prosecutors to seek the documents. Limbaugh acknowledged his addiction to pain medication in...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Palm Beach County prosecutors who want to examine Rush Limbaugh's medical records for their prescription drug abuse investigation are going to court Monday in hopes of having that evidence released. The records were seized in late 2003, as prosecutors looked into allegations that the conservative commentator went "doctor shopping" to illegally acquire pain medication. Limbaugh, 54, of Palm Beach, has not been charged with any crime and has denied any criminal wrongdoing. Limbaugh's attorneys fought the seizures, claiming a violation of privacy rights. But last month the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear his...

The Florida Supreme Court paved the way, and now prosecutors looking to investigate Rush Limbaugh for "doctor shopping" have filed paperwork seeking to open his medical records. Rush has never been charged with a crime, yet in 2003, authorities seized his medical records in order to ascertain whether or not he doctor shopped - i.e. went to different doctors at the same time to get overlapping prescriptions - for painkillers. At 8:30 Monday morning, Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jeffrey Winikoff will hold a hearing to decide what to do with Limbaugh's heretofore personal, confidential records, reports Florida's Sun-Sentinel paper. The...

Washington, May 11 - Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18), along with Rep. Patrick Kennedy (RI-1), unveiled H.R. 2234, the 21st Century Health Information Act, a bi-partisan bill which transforms healthcare by putting new information technology into the hands of doctors. “As healthcare costs continue to rise at double digit rates each year, we must to change our approach,” Congressman Tim Murphy said. “The 21st Century Health Information Act gives doctors the tools they need to confidentially coordinate and communicate accurate healthcare records on their patients. It will save thousands of lives and billions of dollars by reducing medical errors, eliminate duplicate...

Personal health records and other health care information technology could decrease medical errors and save money, but incompatibility between information systems and insufficient government funding are delaying progress, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), founder of the... Center for Health Transformation, said Monday, TechnologyDaily reports. Speaking at a congressional forum on health care information technology sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Gingrich said current methods of estimating the cost of health care IT are "irrational" because they only consider initial investments and do not take long-term savings into account (Belopotosky, TechnologyDaily, 5/10). Gingrich...

(CNN) -- The Florida Supreme Court has turned down conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's request to review a lower court decision that the state could seize his medical records. In a 4-3 decision, the court said it would not consider a motion for rehearing. Limbaugh has been under investigation into whether he illegally went from doctor to doctor to get multiple painkiller prescriptions. He has not been charged and denies the allegation, saying investigators are on a fishing expedition aimed at embarrassing him. In October, Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the state did not violate Limbaugh's privacy...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court says it won't consider an appeal from conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh. Today's four-to-three order didn't explain the court's reasoning. Limbaugh's attorney argues that an appeals court misconstrued Florida law when it ruled prosecutors could review the records. Prosecutors seized Limbaugh's medical records in 2003 for an investigation into whether he illegally purchased prescription painkillers. Limbaugh hasn't been charged with any crime. He lost at the appellate court level and wanted the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that would open his medical records and possibly allow prosecutors to build a case...

WW1 medal records - under threat of being destroyed? Dear List, I just picked up a copy of a magazine and read the editor's column with disbelief. it will affect everyone now and in future who is undertaking research into family members who were involved with WW1. Start of quote: "As we go to press, it has come to my attention that in April the MOD intends to destroy some 6 million records of medals issued to WW1 personnel. I think you will agree that we cannot let them do so. Our military expert Paul Reed has been looking into...

WEST PALM BEACH -- The prosecutor investigating whether Rush Limbaugh illegally purchased prescription painkillers told the Florida Supreme Court on Monday that investigators should be allowed to review the conservative radio commentator's medical records. Assistant State Attorney James Martz said Limbaugh's argument that he should have been notified before the records were seized by investigators is equivalent to saying ``that law enforcement is never to be trusted.'' ``Then search warrants should never be issued and law enforcement should never be permitted to investigate criminal activity for fear that they will abuse the power granted,'' Martz wrote in a brief filed...

Sunday on "Meet the Press" John Kerry finally agreed to sign the famous Form 180, releasing his full military records. John O'Neill, co-author of Unfit for Command and many other critics of Sen. Kerry's war record have long called on him to release all records. No details were yet given on when or where Kerry would actually sign the long-sought-after release. Key excerpt from Sunday's "Meet the Press": MR. RUSSERT: Many people who’ve been criticizing you have said: Senator, if you would just do one thing and that is sign Form 180, which would allow historians and journalists complete access...

Even as his doctors announced that he had "superior" fitness, President George W. Bush said yesterday that he's now "a little overweight" after putting on about five pounds during the last 17 months of campaigning. Actually, the president's own government has considered him officially overweight for quite some time -- probably as early as 1998, when a grand redefinition cast more than 30 million Americans from the "normal" into the "overweight" category without gaining an ounce. With a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27, the supposedly bloated six-foot, two-hundred pound Bush would have to lose 20 pounds to be...

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- President Bush was found in good health and pronounced "fit for duty" by his doctors after his annual physical on Saturday. The checkup was delayed for four months because the 58-year-old president had a hectic travel schedule during the campaign. "They determined he is in superior health overall for a man his age," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said. The White House put out a short letter signed by the 10 doctors who participated in exam and planned to release further details late Saturday about what the team found. Buchan would not comment on any problems...

The state Supreme Court gave Rush Limbaugh an extra month Wednesday to argue prosecutors illegally seized his medical records as part of a probe into whether he sought multiple prescriptions for painkillers. Florida's high court extended Limbaugh's deadline for filing his written arguments from Dec. 20 to Jan. 20, but said that date is final. Limbaugh argues prosecutors violated his privacy when they seized his medical records. The state 4th District Court of Appeal ruled against Limbaugh, but last month it asked the Supreme Court to consider the case. The DCA wants the Supreme Court to decide whether patients should...

An appellate court says it will ask justices to take up Rush Limbaugh's medical-privacy case. Rush Limbaugh's case may be headed to the Florida Supreme Court. The Fourth District Court of Appeal refused to reconsider its Oct. 6 ruling that Palm Beach County prosecutors were within their rights when they seized Limbaugh's medical records using a search warrant. Instead of rehearing the case, the appellate court said Wednesday it will ask the state Supreme Court to take up the case. The state's highest court can either hear the case or pass on it. The conservative talk show radio host has...