Medical Records and Privacy

Concerning your article about the dangers of private medical records becoming public (“Records No Longer for Doctors’ Eyes Only,” Sept. 1), it is interesting that you cited several cases where lives and livelihoods were jeopardized when mental health histories were discovered by others. Apparently the easiest way to engage in character assassination in our society is to imply that someone has a history of mental illness. Frequently there is no distinction made between the untreated and those who have been successfully helped. The stigma is still there.

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the annual convention of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Washington. Over 2,000 family members, patients and doctors met to share information and emotional support. To publicly disclose one’s own mental health history is a very personal decision and it should remain so. As for myself as a person recovering from schizo-affective disorder, I have decided that it is far more constructive to be open about my illness than to live a life of fear and silence.

FRANK C. BARON

Los Angeles

* Your article provided important information regarding the dangers that accompany the erosion of confidentiality in the health care system. Unfortunately, the likelihood of horror stories like those presented in your article will increase if the House Republican health care bill (HR 4250) becomes law without modification.

The misnamed “confidentiality” section of HR 4250 would essentially repeal stricter state confidentiality laws that currently require that patients decide whether medical information should be released. This bill permits a provider of health care plans to disclose protected health information without a patient’s consent for purposes of “health care operations,” which are broadly and vaguely defined.

Hopefully, the congressional leadership will modify this bill.If it passes the Senate without modification, the president should veto it.

SAMUEL I. MILES MD

Los Angeles