AFFIRMATIVE — MEDICAL — IMPACTS 221

LACK OF MEDICAL PRIVACY CAUSES PEOPLE TO AVOID NEEDED TREATMENT

1 OUT OF 6 WITHHOLD MEDICAL INFORMATION OR AVOID CARE BECAUSE OF PRIVACY CONCERNS

Karen Hsu, Globe Correspondent, The Boston Globe, July 15, 1999, SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A12 TITLE: Group offers rules covering patient privacy, medical data access // acs-EE2001

According to Goldman, one out of six people withhold medical information or avoid seeking care from a physician because of fear that the information will be misused. But while patients might worry how technology makes it easier to spread medical information, health care professionals and researchers see benefits from medical data bases, such as understanding patterns of diseases.

LACK OF MEDICAL PRIVACY STOPS PEOPLE FROM SEEKING PROPER HEALTH CARE

JANE E. ALLEN, Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2000, SECTION: Health; Part S; Page 1; TITLE: SOMETIMES, THE WEB SITE IS WATCHING YOU RIGHT BACK; PRIVACY// acs-EE2001

Q: Do you foresee threats to privacy in employment and health insurance?

Janlori Goldman, director of the Health Privacy Project at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., A: We have been looking at medical privacy for many years, and we know that employers, insurers, co-workers, neighbors and family members all have gotten access to information they didn't need to have. We know there are tremendous pressures to make health information available and use it for a variety of purposes. We know it makes people anxious and worried about how they seek health care. Another recent survey by the California HealthCare Foundation showed people are very anxious about using the Internet for health information, for buying prescriptions, for every activity you can imagine. Eighty percent said they'd be more willing to engage in online activities if there was a privacy policy that gave them real control over their information.

THE FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTION OF MEDICAL PRIVACY ADVOCATES IS THAT CONFIDENTIALITY ENSURES PATIENTS WILL SEEK FURTHER TREATMENT

David M. Studdert, Policy Analyst, RAND Institute for Civil Justice and RAND Health; "Direct Contracts, Data Sharing and Employee Risk Selection:" American Journal of Law & Medicine , 1999, 25 Am. J. L. and Med. 233, EE2001-JGM, P.253-254

Foundational justifications of the value of privacy and confidentiality come in several forms. One version argues that the costs of restricting the disclosure of personal information will frequently be outweighed by derivative benefits. For example, people living with sexually transmitted diseases who can rely on credible assurances that information they share with health care professionals about their condition will remain confidential, will be more likely to seek testing and treatment: a positive result for both the patient and the broader community. n154 Such utilitarian or teleological arguments are standard currency in public health debate about the  [*254]  proper boundaries to rights to informational privacy. n155

PEOPLE TRY TO PROTECT THEIR PRIVACY AND IN SO DOING COMPROMISE THEIR MEDICAL NEEDS

Kasper Zeuthen, The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) September 7, 1999, SECTION: Pg. 7 TITLE: Reportage Nippon / Health information moves too freely in United States // acs-EE2001

This has led to concern that people may refrain from getting proper medical care to protect their privacy. A nationwide survey conducted last winter by the California HealthCare Foundation showed that one out of six Americans have taken steps to protect their medical information, including giving doctors incomplete information or simply paying for treatment and tests themselves to prevent insurance companies from getting such information.

FEAR OF MEDICAL RECORDS CIRCULATING STOPS IMMIGRANTS FROM SEEKING MEDICAL CARE

JANE E. ALLEN, Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1999, SECTION: Health; Part S; Page 1; TITLE: A NEW PUSH IS ON FOR PATIENTS' PRIVACY LAW// acs-EE2001

Martha Jiminez, executive director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, said immigrants fear that health reporting requirements will deliver their names to the IRS.

"Qualified aliens," she said, "are not accessing care because of fear."