Government
AMA vote on Patriot Act supports protecting patient confidentiality
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 11, 2005
Physicians at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting last month directed the AMA to work to protect patient confidentiality from being violated by a provision of the USA Patriot Act, the federal anti-terrorism legislation passed in 2001.
Physicians were concerned about Section 215 of the law, which states physicians can be forced to provide a patient's record without a warrant or subpoena, and prohibits them from telling the patient of the government demand.
That section of the law sunsets on Dec. 31, but Congress might try to reauthorize it, physicians predicted. The AMA plans to lobby for letting the provision expire as scheduled or for amending it to meet the Association's strong confidentiality guidelines.
Some physicians said the AMA should not irritate Republican leaders whose help it needs on topics such as Medicare payment and medical liability reform. Others urged the AMA to stand by its patient privacy principles.
"This is a major tenet of what the AMA stands for," said Carol Rose, MD, an anesthesiologist from Pittsburgh.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/07/11/gvbf0711.htm.
