Administration Sets Forth a Limited View on Privacy

Friday, March 5, 2004
By Robert Pear & Eric Lichtblau

New York Times Writers

President Bush was elected on a platform that proclaimed support for medical privacy. In April 2001, he said he would protect "the right of every American to have confidence that his or her personal medical records will remain private." At the time, Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of health and human services, said, "We are giving patients peace of mind in knowing that their medical records are confidential and their privacy is not vulnerable to intrusion."

WASHINGTON -- NYT
In a sharp departure from its past insistence on the sanctity of medical records, the Bush administration has set forth a new, more limited view of privacy rights as it tries to force hospitals and clinics to turn over records of hundreds and perhaps thousands of abortions.

Federal law "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege," the Justice Department said last month in court papers that sought abortion records from Planned Parenthood clinics in California, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York City and Washington. Moreover, the department said in another abortion case, patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential."

Health lawyers and privacy experts said that position reflected a significant shift after six years in which Bush and Clinton administration officials had promised to strengthen the confidentiality of medical records.

Two federal judges have also expressed alarm over the government position. The latest blow to the government was on Friday, when a federal district judge in San Francisco denied a demand by the Justice Department for access to abortion records from a public hospital there and from six Planned Parenthood affiliates in the county.

The judge, Phyllis J. Hamilton, said forcing the providers to turn over the records would undermine the privacy rights of patients and could dissuade some from seeking treatment.

"There is no question that the patient is entitled to privacy and protection," Judge Hamilton said. "Women are entitled to not have the government looking at their records."

(More: NYTimes.com Washington)

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Dan