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HIPAA has no private cause of action (you can't sue providers who violate your rights under HIPAA). The government can fine them, so from a provider POV they ar

HIPAA has no private cause of action (you can't sue providers who violate your rights under HIPAA). The government can fine them, so from a provider POV they are liable for the breach you propose, but you are not eligible for recovering the $50k. You may or may not have a private civil tort against the medical provider, separately from HIPAA.

prepend 5y ago
Good point, the fines are by HHS and not dollar amounts to victims. I gave the amounts to signify the importance and IANAL would be part of a basis for establishing harm done. I specifically linked to an injury lawyer to show the types of current HIPAA violation civil suits that have succeeded. My reasoning is that it’s lucrative enough for lawyers to solicit business.
analog31 5y ago
People talk about the US being lawsuit-happy, but here's an example where the tort system could work to encourage the enforcement of a law if the government doesn't want to enforce it.
- Teever 5y ago
  As a non-American I am always fascinated by the hacks and kludges that people propose to mitigate the inherent dysfunction that is the US medical system. I consider intentional breaches of medical privacy to be in the same league as physical assault and as such would expect a society to respond to these kinds of crimes with swift and severe punishments including jail time and fines. Why not just arrest these people and take the profits from their crime instead of adding civil lawyers and bureaucracy to the mix?
  - ska 5y ago
    >and as such would expect a society to respond to these kinds of crimes with swift and severe punishments including jail time and fines. Can you point to any country with a law on the books like this?
    - dreamcompiler 5y ago
      The USA. HIPAA states that willful or malicious disclosures of identifiable health information with intent to sell for personal gain have penalties of up to 10 years in prison [0]. But of course that's not what TFA was about. [0] https://inspiredelearning.com/blog/hipaa-101-guide-violations-penalties/ https://inspiredelearning.com/blog/hipaa-101-guide-violation...
      - ska 5y ago
        > But of course that's not what TFA was about. Right, there are criminal penalties possible under HIPAA (I don't know if anyone has actually gone to jail under them) but they explicitly don't apply to the situation I was replying to (or I misunderstood it).
wombatpm 5y ago
Would a hosital employee be able to make a whistle blower case and recoup a portion of the fines?

prepend 5y ago

Good point, the fines are by HHS and not dollar amounts to victims. I gave the amounts to signify the importance and IANAL would be part of a basis for establishing harm done. I specifically linked to an injury lawyer to show the types of current HIPAA violation civil suits that have succeeded. My reasoning is that it’s lucrative enough for lawyers to solicit business.

analog31 5y ago

People talk about the US being lawsuit-happy, but here's an example where the tort system could work to encourage the enforcement of a law if the government doesn't want to enforce it.

Teever 5y ago
As a non-American I am always fascinated by the hacks and kludges that people propose to mitigate the inherent dysfunction that is the US medical system. I consider intentional breaches of medical privacy to be in the same league as physical assault and as such would expect a society to respond to these kinds of crimes with swift and severe punishments including jail time and fines. Why not just arrest these people and take the profits from their crime instead of adding civil lawyers and bureaucracy to the mix?
- ska 5y ago
  >and as such would expect a society to respond to these kinds of crimes with swift and severe punishments including jail time and fines. Can you point to any country with a law on the books like this?
  - dreamcompiler 5y ago
    The USA. HIPAA states that willful or malicious disclosures of identifiable health information with intent to sell for personal gain have penalties of up to 10 years in prison [0]. But of course that's not what TFA was about. [0] https://inspiredelearning.com/blog/hipaa-101-guide-violations-penalties/ https://inspiredelearning.com/blog/hipaa-101-guide-violation...
    - ska 5y ago
      > But of course that's not what TFA was about. Right, there are criminal penalties possible under HIPAA (I don't know if anyone has actually gone to jail under them) but they explicitly don't apply to the situation I was replying to (or I misunderstood it).

wombatpm 5y ago

Would a hosital employee be able to make a whistle blower case and recoup a portion of the fines?