Archive for the ‘Editorial’ Category

Seeking medical record privacy? Try renting a movie instead In debates over health privacy proposals, it was often said that video rental records had better privacy protection than medical records. Unfortunately, now that the final privacy rules have been issued under HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, it is still true that video rental records have better protections from marketing ... Full story

With the work of Guthrie and others allowing the inexpensive, reliable assessment of small dried blood spots for biochemicals linked to genetic disorders, mass screening of newborns became technically feasible. Since specific treatments or preventives for some of these conditions were also available, outcomes like catastrophic illness or chronic mental retardation could be avoided. In the 1960s, the US Congress, under ... Full story