LJWorld.com

Congress initially passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996 and it includes many aspects of medical care, including coverage for pre-existing medical conditions and release of confidential medical information. The part of HIPAA that most of us are familiar with was enacted into law April 1, 2001. We are often asked to sign forms related to HIPAA at our dentist and doctor's offices. HIPAA protects patients from having their medical information released without their consent.

A nurse practitioner, Cherilyn Lee, has spoken on three different programs tonight on CNN via the telephone. She related that she initially became acquainted with Michael Jackson at the beginning of this year when she saw his three children in their home for treatment of colds. She then started providing Michael with nutritional advice to increase his level of energy and to treat insomnia. At one point, Michael asked her to prescribe/admininster a sedative, Diprivan, for him that is only administered in an inpatient setting. She reports she wasn't even aware of what the medication was and had to check with a physician. She reports she has never prescribed any medications to Michael and told him it was a very dangerous drug.

Although Michael Jackson is now dead, does he give up his right to privacy of his medical records? This nurse had a professional relationship with Michael and both he and his children were her patients. Though she may be compelled to provide information to the coroner or the police department due to their investigation (which she says she's not spoken to about this), I believe she has violated both ethical boundaries and perhaps the law by disclosing this information.

Should she be charged with violating HIPAA regulations? Should she lose her nursing license for disclosing this information? What would your reaction be if a health care provider disclosed you and your family's medical information without your consent?

Paul Harvey was a masterful storyteller. One of the most inspiring yet heart-wrenching stories he ever told was about a little girl named Mary Ellen McCormack. In 1873 a janitor told a church worker, Etta Wheeler, about a little girl living in an apartment building in New York City who was being severely abused by her adoptive parents.

Mary Ellen was tied to the bed, beaten and struck with scissors by the parents. Etta Wheeler went to law enforcement to try to rescue the little girl from her life of horror but there was nothing can be done. Child abuse was not against the law at the time.

A few years earlier in New York City a man named Henry Bergh founded the SPCA, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals. Mr Bergh heard of little Mary Ellen's horrible plight and agreed to represent the little girl's interest in court. Although child abuse was not against the law, abuse and cruelty to animals was. Mr. Bergh had Mary Ellen brought into court on a stretcher. She was bruised and battered, she was disheveled and Mr. Bergh implored the judge that the little girl was indeed an animal. The judge agreed that it was a crime what was happening to Mary Ellen and other children like her. Mr. Bergh went on to found the SPCC, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, believed to be the first child protection agency in the world.

So now you know the rest of the story........................ that because of a law protecting animals from abuse, this little girl's life and countless other lives have been saved.