>Charlotte<
Lurker
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina.
I've confirmed what I'm pretty sure the answer is by reading some old posts, but I'd like to ask just to make sure. Can't find a thread that has quite this particular scenario.
TL;DR short version: is a doctor's revelation to a patient that he has HIV a HIPAA violation, if she tells him in front of another person? The other person happens to be his wife, but the doctor did not know that. That's basically it.
If you need more details:
A doctor walks into a hospital room where the patient and his wife are sitting. Without acknowledging the wife's presence, knowing who she is, or asking who she is, she tells the patient he has HIV. The patient is furious and insists the doctor should have told him in complete privacy or, at least, first ascertained that his "guest" was someone he would want to have knowledge of this diagnosis. He is insisting it's a HIPAA violation and that he's going to sue.
He may calm down and drop it, but he's likely to try to pursue this and I'm sure he's going to ask me for advice.
I think the legal implications are that she *could* have been just some random person sitting there, but she wasn't. She was his wife. "Could have" doesn't count. Although for that matter--is a spouse some kind of default approved contact, or should the doctor have told the patient in confidence even if she had known that was his wife?
More importantly, I can't imagine there will be any "damages" regardless of what happened. He would have immediately told his wife in any case, so if she leaves him (extremely unlikely) those might be damages, but she would be leaving him because he has HIV, not because the doctor told him he has HIV in front of her.
I don't think he has anything here, and intend to tell him so (and why) if anybody can tell me I'm right. I'm still going to encourage him to speak to an attorney simply because he shouldn't take legal advice from anybody but an attorney.
I'd appreciate any opinions so I'll be prepared to talk to my friend when he's ready to talk.
I've confirmed what I'm pretty sure the answer is by reading some old posts, but I'd like to ask just to make sure. Can't find a thread that has quite this particular scenario.
TL;DR short version: is a doctor's revelation to a patient that he has HIV a HIPAA violation, if she tells him in front of another person? The other person happens to be his wife, but the doctor did not know that. That's basically it.
If you need more details:
A doctor walks into a hospital room where the patient and his wife are sitting. Without acknowledging the wife's presence, knowing who she is, or asking who she is, she tells the patient he has HIV. The patient is furious and insists the doctor should have told him in complete privacy or, at least, first ascertained that his "guest" was someone he would want to have knowledge of this diagnosis. He is insisting it's a HIPAA violation and that he's going to sue.
He may calm down and drop it, but he's likely to try to pursue this and I'm sure he's going to ask me for advice.
I think the legal implications are that she *could* have been just some random person sitting there, but she wasn't. She was his wife. "Could have" doesn't count. Although for that matter--is a spouse some kind of default approved contact, or should the doctor have told the patient in confidence even if she had known that was his wife?
More importantly, I can't imagine there will be any "damages" regardless of what happened. He would have immediately told his wife in any case, so if she leaves him (extremely unlikely) those might be damages, but she would be leaving him because he has HIV, not because the doctor told him he has HIV in front of her.
I don't think he has anything here, and intend to tell him so (and why) if anybody can tell me I'm right. I'm still going to encourage him to speak to an attorney simply because he shouldn't take legal advice from anybody but an attorney.
I'd appreciate any opinions so I'll be prepared to talk to my friend when he's ready to talk.