Michigan Bill to strip privacy rights and confidentiality laws in health care

Michigan lawmakers have introduced a highly unusual Bill.  It proposes to "strip privacy rights".

House Bill 5228: Waive patient confidentiality in certain child abuse investigations
Introduced by Rep. Kenneth Kurtz (R) on January 22, 2014, to require health care and mental health professionals including doctors, psychologists and others, to turn over records related to a patient’s “substance use disorder” records to the Department of Human Services, if this is requested due to a child abuse or child neglect investigation that has been initiated involving a patient. The usual patient confidentiality requirements privileges would be waived in these cases. 

Let us examine this a bit further.

Medicaid Marijuana in the works

Notice the language is crafted to say "substance use disorder".  This is the new code word for medical marijuana.  

This bill is to deter the use of medical marijuana.  A basic principle of creating fear to reduce demand.  The supply will be controlled by major corporations, mostly by the pharmaceutical industry which is already forging the way from file patents on the different strains to working with States Legislatures in developing a billing system through Medicaid.

Stripping of a constitutional right to privacy for the purposes of business is quite disconcerting.

This Bill has nothing to do with child welfare but the advocates of this legislation will beg to differ.

Michigan Patient Health Care Privacy Stripping Bill

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