Question

A 32 year old immigrant from a patriarchal country is giving birth. As she is delivering the baby, she tearfully confesses to her doctor that this is her 4th child and she simply cannot handle any more children. She tells the doctor that her husband refuses to use contraception or allow her to, and she begs her doctor to tie her tubes and not tell her husband. The doctor complies. Was HIPAA Violated? Why or why not?

Answer 1

She's 32. She can vote. She is entitled to privacy and it would take almost an act of Nature to disclose what she has asked of her doctor.

HIPAA has to do with who can look at medical records. If she doesn't want her husband to see those records, they are locked tighter than a safe on Wall Street.

From what I've read, that ruling has many implications. He is her next of kin. Can he sue if something goes wrong? There are more questions here than answers. Will the records be opened if something does go wrong? Where does freedom from prying eyes end and the good of the commonwealth begin?

If this question is anything but a school question (I'm assuming that is all it is), and somebody needs to act on the answer, for goodness sake consult someone who really knows and is governed by HIPAA. This is nothing to fool around with.