WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Association
of American Physicians and Surgeons issued the
following statement by it General Counsel, Andrew
Schlafly, in reaction to the decision issued today by
the District Court of Appeals, Fourth District,
Florida, in the matter of Rush Limbaugh v. the State
of Florida regarding the release of his medical
records. The AAPS filed an amicus curiae brief in that
case.
"It's open season now on everyone's medical records
and everyone in the country needs to start playing
hide and seek with their doctor following today's
ruling by District Court of Appeals in the matter of
rush Limbaugh's medical records finding that there is
no constitutional protection for medical records
against search warrants.
"We'd better tell doctors to Mirandize every patient -
tell them 'You have the right to remain silent' -
because this is the end of privacy in medical records.
The message to patients is clear: anything you tell
your doctor can and will be used against you.
"Rush Limbaugh has not been charged with a crime, and
yet the State of Florida seized access to many of his
highly personal medical records, without prior notice.
The State even grabbed medical records unrelated to
its investigation.
"Forget about doctor shopping for pain medication,
patients cannot even "doctor shop" for confidentiality
anymore! Every doctor can now be turned against his
patient at any time.
"The winners are investigators, insurance companies,
employers, adversaries, and anyone else who wants the
State to go on a fishing expedition against a citizen.
"It's dismal that only a partial dissenting opinion
recognizes the right to privacy. Judge Melanie G. May
chided her colleagues' failure to do so in very stern
terms. She writes, 'I dissent therefore, from the
majority's decision to keep its 'Eyes Wide Shut' to
the right to privacy in a person's medical records.'
She then cites the special nature of the doctor
patient relationship dating back 2400 years to the
Oath of Hippocrates.
"The Florida court rejected that Oath whereby doctors
have sworn that 'I will keep to myself" what 'I may
see or hear in the course of the treatment.' The new
rule is that doctors ' will keep for the State'
sensitive information so that it can be used against
the patient.
"This could not come at a worse time, as Senators Bill
Frist and Hillary Clinton have banded together to
promote a federal plan towards electronic databases of
all patients. On Aug. 25th, both wrote together in
support of a ten-year plan by the Department of Health
and Human Services to establish electronic databases
of medical records.
"AAPS deplores forcing doctors to testify against
their patients, and will continue to fight this
decision in court.
"Neither common sense nor the physician-patient
privilege can stand in the way of the political
witchhunt against Limbaugh. These fishing expeditions
through medical records in search of a crime should
not be allowed."
The AAPS, a non-partisan dues-supported professional
association, has been dedicated to protection of the
patient-physician relationship from third-party
intrusion since 1943.
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