Protected health information maliciously shared with non caregiving family members

[Diane Ostapchen]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Delaware. I discovered today that my husband shared my health status without my permission with his entire family who have been cruel and unkind to me since our marriage None of them are involved in any way with my health care. This was done out of malice and has potential repercussions such as job loss for me. Do I have any legal recourse to get him to stop doing this? Also, I'm thinking seriously about divorce. I'd be grateful for any advice anyone can give. Thank you.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Delaware. I discovered today that my husband shared my health status without my permission with his entire family who have been cruel and unkind to me since our marriage None of them are involved in any way with my health care. This was done out of malice and has potential repercussions such as job loss for me. Do I have any legal recourse to get him to stop doing this? Also, I'm thinking seriously about divorce. I'd be grateful for any advice anyone can give. Thank you.

Unless you made it clear to your husband that your health status was to remain confidential, your husband did nothing illegal by telling his family what he knows.

How has your job been affected?

 

[cbg]

HIPAA (the law that oversees protected health information) is in no way as broad as most people seem to think and would not cover this situation.

 

[LdiJ]

HIPAA (the law that oversees protected health information) is in no way as broad as most people seem to think and would not cover this situation.

I agree wholeheartedly. However, in a divorce situation, if the husband did something to maliciously tank the wife's career, or even without malice, but foolishly did something to tank the wife's career, it might impact a property settlement or alimony award.

 

[quincy]

HIPAA (the law that oversees protected health information) is in no way as broad as most people seem to think and would not cover this situation.

I was considering invasion of privacy, publication of private facts. The elements for an invasion of privacy claim might not be present here, however. More needs to be known.

 

[cbg]

Not arguing with either of you; just letting the OP know that the law most people think of with regards to PHI does not apply. If there's another legal aspect she can use to her benefit, more power to her. I'm by no means saying she has no recourse; just that HIPAA does not apply here. I work with HIPAA every working day of my life, am trained and certified in its use, so that's where my mind goes. I'll leave it to those who work with other privacy laws or family law to deal with those aspects of her situation.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Delaware. I discovered today that my husband shared my health status without my permission with his entire family who have been cruel and unkind to me since our marriage None of them are involved in any way with my health care. This was done out of malice and has potential repercussions such as job loss for me. Do I have any legal recourse to get him to stop doing this? Also, I'm thinking seriously about divorce. I'd be grateful for any advice anyone can give. Thank you.

Frankly divorce might be the best recourse if you are having this kind of trouble with your spouse and his family. It is not illegal for your spouse to tell the world of your medical condition unless your spouse is also a medical professional who is treating you for that medical condition. It might amount to some kind of privacy tort, but even if it does in general you would need to show some kind of financial loss as a result of it to win anything in the lawsuit. It might be best to simply work that out as part of any property division in the divorce.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the Restatement (Second) of Torts on invasions of privacy. Delaware has adopted the Restatement's definition for publication of private facts.

There does not need to be a showing of economic harm and truth is not a defense to privacy claims. One element that might be missing here, however, is widespread publicity of the private medical information (although communicating the information through emails or online postings can satisfy this element).

https://cyber.harvard.edu/privacy/Privacy_R2d_Torts_Sections.htm

 

[stealth2]

I would add to all of the above that you would be wise to change your username. It's never a great idea to use your real name (which I assuming it is...).