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Judge: Hospital Privacy Law Not Absolute |
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Federal health privacy law does not prohibit hospital personnel from giving police access to a patient who was a crime victim, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Tucker Melancon threw out a lawsuit filed by Elizabeth Maier, a hospital case manager who was booked with obstruction of justice last year for refusing to identify a domestic abuse victim being treated at Lafayette General Medical Center. The 66-year-old patient had told nurses that her husband pushed her down, but she told Maier that she did not want to report the alleged abuse. However, a nurse already had called 911.
Police said state law required them to investigate any report of domestic violence, and they accused Maier of improperly keeping two officers from seeing the woman.
Maier was never prosecuted, but she sued police. She cited the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, saying it generally bars hospitals from reporting instances of domestic abuse against mentally competent adults unless the victim agrees to the report.
Hospital spokeswoman Elisabeth Arnold said Maier followed policy.
In his ruling Friday, the judge said HIPAA does not block officers from getting information about a crime, and he noted that the officers had obtained a warrant for Maier's arrest, meaning that a judge had found probable cause for the charge. He said that provides protection against accusations of false arrest.
Court filings by Maier's attorney, Paul Marx, indicate the patient never did talk to police. |
