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Medical Privacy
April 12,
2001
Dear liberty activist,
Only in Washington does 13,535 equal 1. The comments of the thousands of
you who expressed your concerns about the final medical privacy rule were
ignored - that's what the bureaucrats at Health and Human Services (HHS)
are saying.
I was told today - the same day HHS Secretary Thompson announced his
decision to proceed with the final medical privacy rule - that the 13,535
people who submitted their names and addresses on our petition would be
counted as one comment.
We spearheaded a nationwide petition drive so American citizens could
comply with the strict HHS guidelines as to the form and specific content
of comments HHS would accept. As a result, thousands of you expressed your
informed objections to specific parts of this wide-sweeping, final medical
privacy rule that, in reality, gives the federal government and third
parties broad access to your most personal medical records WITHOUT your
consent. Examples of third parties and purposes for which access to your
records is granted include:
1. Oversight of the health care system;
2. FDA monitoring (including dietary supplements);
3. Public health surveillance and activities;
4. Foreign governments collaborating with U.S. public health officials;
5. Research (if an Institutional Review Board or privacy board waives
consent);
6. Law enforcement activities;
7. Judicial and administrative proceedings;
8. HHS-Office of Civil Rights.
During a 10-day period, 13,535 of us used our petition to take advantage
of Secretary Thompson's reopening of the comment period and object to
government's invasion of our privacy.
It's right out of the "Twilight Zone": 13,535 equals 1; a
federal medical privacy rule that will actually give us less privacy - not
more. To make matters worse, based on Secretary Thompson's statement
today, it doesn't appear that he will address the concerns expressed in
our petition.
Here's the contact information for Secretary Tommy Thompson:
Secretary Tommy Thompson
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
(202) 619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775
E-mail: hhsmail@os.dhhs.gov .
Working for passage of H.J. Res. 38 is our next move. H.J. Res. 38 was
submitted under the Congressional Review Act of 1996 by Congressman Ron
Paul. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to repeal a federal
agency's regulation on an expedited basis by a specific deadline. The
deadline for passage of H.J. Res. 38 is June 15, 2001. To urge your U.S.
representative to work for passage of H.J. Res. 38, go to
http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/bills/?
billnum=H.J.RES.38&congress=107
Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org
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