Sacred Secrets — The Privacy of Medical Records

Abstract

Whatsoever I shall see or hear concerning the life of men, in my attendance on the sick, or even apart therefrom, which ought not to be noised abroad, I will keep silence thereon, counting such things to be as sacred secrets.The Hippocratic OathPersonal medical information is far from private in the United States. Insurers use identifiable medical records for risk rating, employers use them for hiring and firing, health systems for quality assurance, pharmaceutical firms for marketing, banks for assessing loan risk, and the government for the detection of fraud. It is difficult to obtain health insurance without . . .