Re: Hippa law violation?

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On 2/16/08, WrightCare2008 wrote:
> On 4/24/07, rober2u wrote:
>> My wife and I recently had a baby. Unfortunately, he died
>> the next day. He was very sick. We were devistated. The
>> night after he died, while at the hospital, we received
>> several phone calls on my wife's cell phone at
>> approximately 1:00am. We ignored the first few calls, but
>> then we gave up and my wife answered the phone. A lady
>> who was not affiliated with the hospital stated that she
>> heard our baby died and she wanted to know if we would
>> like to donate are baby's organs and tissue. We were
>> shocked. She put a ton of pressure on us to make a
>> decision right then and there. My wife was a mess. I
>> Finally just told her to say no and hang up. We have no
>> idea how this person got my wife's cell phone number. We
>> did not give the hospital permission to give out our
>> information. The hospital could not or would not tell us
>> who gave out our information. Question: is this a
>> violation of the Hippa laws of California?
Dear rober2u,
that was most definatly a hippa violation. I am Health Unit
Coordinator for a major hospital in Dallas,Tx and by law we
cannot release any information to any one without written or
verbal consent with a witness. If that information was given
out the violated you patient confidentialty rights. You should
seek an attorney about this situation, it doesnt matter if
they tel l you who gave out the info or not it was released by
the hospital to the Donor Center. Trust methats the only way
the can recieve donors it has to be a hospital to center
contact within so many hours of a patients death. I'm sorry
for your loss and i wish the best in the future.