New York High Court Says HIPAA Protects Medical Records From Disclosure to Agency

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prohibits the disclosure of a patient’s medical records to a public agency that requests the records for use in a proceeding to compel the patient to accept health treatment, where the patient has neither authorized the disclosure nor received notice of the request, New York’s highest court held May 10 (Miguel M. v. Barron, N.Y., 76, 5/10/11).

The New York Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Judge Robert S. Smith, also held that medical records obtained in violation of HIPAA or the related privacy rule, and the information ...