Medical HIPPA Law and Prospective Employement

[agrieder]

I will try to make this as quick as possible. I was working for the school I was attending the last summer. I had tears in both elbows and in pain. I went to a Dr. that happened to know the teacher I was working for. He called the teacher to verify my story and told him what he prescribed me, a narcotic Vicodin. This is a Christian College so obviously that did not go over well. I believe I lost the opportunity for a job that the teacher vacated because of the incident. I cannot be sure of that though. Isn't there a privacy law against a Dr. calling anyone and telling them what I was there for and especially what meds were prescribed?

 

[seniorjudge]

Why did the doctor call the school?

Is the school (or church) opposed to prescription drugs?

 

[agrieder]

They are against them to a degree. He just happened to do it because he knew the guy and wanted to check out my story. May I ask what difference it makes whether they are or aren't against them? Are there not HIPPA laws, or whatever they are called, that protect Dr./patient confidentiality? From what I understand they have not right doing such a thing.

 

[cbg]

The reason the doctor called the school might make a difference. However, there is a reasonably good chance that unless you signed a release allowing your doctor to release the information to the school, it did violate HIPAA.

You can contact the OCR and file a complaint. It will not get you the job and it will not result in any financial gain to you. It could, however, result in penalties to the doctor.

 

[agrieder]

I didn't sign any waiver. What good reason could he have for calling the school?
What if I have a history of substance abuse and Dr. shopping for prescription meds? Don't get me wrong, that still isn't why he made the call. Neither he or the teacher were aware of my problem. If it did escalate to a court type level that could obviously get me into trouble and void this case, right?