New Ways to Access Your Health Data

The data miners never take a day off.  And when it comes to getting your health and other personal information it seems they will stop at nothing.

Now some one has dreamed up the new Health FICO score so they know if or when you are follwoing doctors' dictates.

My concern of course is that in this mdel there is nothing to call to the fact that too many health care provider's faile to engage you in informed consent.

But now you can see for yourself what this new spying scheme is about -

 New medical FICO score sparks controversy, questions

Jeremy M. Simon, On Thursday July 28, 2011

Within the next 12 months, whether you like it or not, about 10 million Americans are expected to be scored -- much like a credit score -- on how likely they are to fill a prescription and take all the pills the doctor ordered, on schedule.

FICO , creator of the widely used credit score that predicts whether you'll borrow responsibly, is now rolling out its new Medication Adherence Score.

FICO based its score on a formula that predicts whether you will take your prescription drugs. FICO says that since correct use of medication is important for patients, medical providers, insurers and pharmaceutical companies, the Medication Adherence Score will help achieve that goal. They predict it will improve therapy effectiveness and reduce health care costs.

The company says those who score low can be targeted for extra reminders and educational efforts, with the goal of making patients more likely to complete their prescribed regimens.

"It's very important to identify those people who may need that additional education and that additional help," says Dave Shellenberger, senior principal consultant in FICO's health care division.  Read more...

Selections from Natural Health News

Natural Health News: Another Privacy Breach and HIPAA

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2011/02/another-privacy-breach-and-hipaa.html

Feb 23, 2011

Here is some current reporting in regard to HIPAA and your privacy. For many years, since this legislation was enacted, we have warned that it does little to protect your medical records or your privacy. ...

Natural Health News: HIPAA: Privacy Still at Risk

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/hipaa-privacy-still-at-risk.html

Sep 22, 2010

It is important to note that the HIPAA privacy rule permits public-health workers to use and disclose individually identifiable health data without patients' authorization. This is a major loophole that allows patients' ...

Natural Health News: Doctor offices do not honor privacy

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2010/03/doctor-offices-do-not-honor-privacy.html

Mar 02, 2010

She was complaining about the lack of privacy at the area doctor groups and how there is no effort to protect patient data and financial information in front of other staff and patients. ...

Natural Health News: Health Privacy: You Have None

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/health-privacy-you-have-none.html

Sep 30, 2008

In fact, privacy is the key to progress with Health Information Technology (HIT). The potential benefits of electronic health systems cannot be realized unless Americans have confidence that ironclad privacy protections ...

Airport X-Ray Machines: UPDATE

UPDATE: 18 January 2012 -

TSA workers to wear monitoring devices to test if scanners have dangerous levels of radiation

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087419/TSA-workers-wear-monitoring-devices-test-scanners-dangerous-levels-radiation.html#ixzz1jlI8gmj4

17 May 2011 - 

Scientists Cast Doubt on TSA Tests of Full-Body Scanners

by Michael Grabell ProPublica, May 16, 2011, 2:11 p.m.
The Transportation Security Administration says its full-body X-ray scanners are safe and that radiation from a scan is equivalent to what's received in about two minutes of flying. The company that makes them says it's safer than eating a banana [1].
But some scientists with expertise in imaging and cancer say the evidence made public to support those claims is unreliable. And in a new letter [2] sent to White House science adviser John Holdren, they question why the TSA won't make the scanners available for independent testing by outside scientists.
The machines, which are designed to reveal objects hidden under clothing, have the potential to close a significant security gap for the TSA because metal detectors can't find explosives or ceramic knives, which can be just as sharp as the box cutters that hijackers used on 9/11.
They are also important for TSA's public relations battle over the alternative, the "enhanced pat-down," which has bred an epidemic of viral videos: A 6-year-old girl [3] is touched from head to toe. A former Miss USA [4] says she was violated. A software programmer warns a screener, "If you touch my junk [5], I'm going to have you arrested."
After the underwear bomber tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day 2009, the TSA ramped up deployment of full-body scanners and plans to have them at nearly every security line by 2014.
There are two types of body scanners [6]. Millimeter wave machines emit a radio frequency similar to cellphones. Backscatters work like a fast-moving X-ray. In the latter, the rays bounce off the skin and create a fuzzy white image [7] of the passenger's body. Because the beam doesn't go through the body, most of its radiation is received by the skin.
The TSA says the backscatter technology has been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration [8], the National Institute for Standards and Technology [9] and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [10]. Survey teams are using radiation-detecting dosimeters to check the machines at airports. The TSA says the results have all confirmed that the scanners don't pose a significant risk to public health.
According to the agency and many radiation experts, the dose is so low, even for children or cancer patients, that someone would have to pass through the machines more than a thousand times before approaching the annual limit set by radiation safety organizations.
But the letter to the White House science adviser, signed by five professors at University of California, San Francisco, and one at Arizona State University, points out several flaws in the tests. Studies published in scientific journals in the last few months have also cast doubt on the radiation dose and the machines' ability to find explosives.
A number of scientists, including some who believe the radiation is trivial, say more testing should be done given the government's plans to put millions of passengers through the machines. And they have been disturbed by the TSA's reluctance to do so.
"There's no real data on these machines, and in fact, the best guess of the dose is much, much higher than certainly what the public thinks," said John Sedat, a professor emeritus in biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and the primary author of the letter.
The same group stirred controversy last year when it sent a letter to Holdren [11] arguing that while the overall dose to the body may be low, the TSA hadn't quantified the dose to the skin. Last fall, FDA and TSA officials released a study [12] that estimated the dose to the skin to be twice the dose to the body, though still extremely low.
In the most recent letter sent to Holdren on April 28, the professors note that the Johns Hopkins lab didn't test an actual airport machine. Instead, the tests were done on a model built by the manufacturer, Rapiscan [13], and configured to resemble a system previously tested by the TSA.
The researchers' names have been kept secret, and the report on the tests is so "heavily redacted" that "there is no way to repeat any of these measurements," they wrote.
The physics and medical professors also took issue with the device used to measure the radiation. Although the device, known as an ion chamber, is commonly used to test medical equipment, they argue that the detector gets overwhelmed by the amount of radiation the backscatter deposits in a short time and might not provide accurate readings.
Helen Worth, a spokeswoman for the Johns Hopkins lab, referred questions to the TSA.
Part of the trouble is that there is no ideal device for measuring the radiation dose given by backscatter X-rays, said David Brenner, director of the Columbia University Center for Radiological Research. The machines emit a pencil beam that rapidly moves across and up and down the body, he said.
"We are one of the oldest and biggest radiological research centers in the country, and we find this to be a very hard technical problem," said Brenner, who was not involved with the letter.
Another issue is that there is a lot of uncertainty with the model used to estimate cancer risk from radiation exposure to the skin, said Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a UCSF radiologist who also was not involved in the letter.
Smith-Bindman, who has testified before Congress about excessive radiation from medical scans, studied the TSA reports and said she wasn't concerned about the airport X-rays.
The risks are "truly trivial," she wrote in an article [14] for the Archives of Internal Medicine. A passenger would have to undergo 50 airport scans to reach the level of a dental X-ray, 1,000 for a chest X-ray, and 4,000 for a mammogram.
Though imperfect, the available models predict that the backscatters would lead to only six cancers over the course of a lifetime among the approximately 100 million people who fly every year, Smith-Bindman concluded.
"There's really unnecessary fear related to these scans," she said. "What I'm not as comfortable with is that there has not been access to these machines. They are not being tested on the same regulatory basis that we see on medical equipment."
After her article was published, Smith-Bindman was contacted by a TSA public affairs officer. During the conversation, she suggested that she or other outside scientists be allowed to test the machine. The official was shocked by the suggestion and said such access could tip off people who want to avoid detection, Smith-Bindman said.
"It was not appreciating that there's legitimate scientific questions that have to be balanced against the security questions," she said.
The TSA did not respond to ProPublica's questions about why it wouldn't allow outside testing. But at a congressional hearing [15] in March, Robin Kane, assistant administrator for security technology, said doing so would expose a lot of sensitive information the agency wouldn't normally share publicly. The machines had already been tested several times, he said, and if set up securely, the agency would allow more testing.
The available information leaves scientists with little to work with. Peter Rez, the Arizona State physics professor who signed the letter to Holdren, has tried to calculate the radiation by examining the handful of backscatter images that have been released publicly.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center [16], a civil liberties group, sued the Department of Homeland Security, TSA's parent agency, in federal court seeking release of 2,000 backscatter images used in testing. But it has not been successful.
The few images that have been made public do not reveal faces or detailed private features. The TSA says the images Rez used are out of date, but Rez says the current image on TSA's website is unusable.
Using the earlier images, Rez concluded [17] in the Radiation Protection Dosimetry journal that it was highly unlikely the machines could have produced such high-quality images with doses of radiation as low as those described by TSA. He estimated the dose, while still very small, is 45 times higher than the results measured by Johns Hopkins.
Applying Rez's numbers, Brenner wrote a paper [18] for the journal Radiology, estimating that 100 additional cancers would develop for every 1 billion scans.
For Rez, the real danger occurs if the machine stops in the middle of a scan, allowing the beam to focus on a tiny area for several seconds. Given that the backscatter works with a wheel rotating at a high speed, and that the agency plans to use the scanners continuously 365 days a year, mechanical failures are likely, he said.
The TSA says that the scanners have safety systems, such as automatic shutoffs and emergency stop buttons, that will kill the beam in the event of any problem that could result in abnormal radiation. How those fail-safe systems work isn't entirely clear.
When Johns Hopkins researchers visited the Rapiscan facility, the automatic termination appeared to work. But the full results of the shutoff tests are redacted.
What's more, the test system didn't have an emergency stop button.

14 March 2011 -

The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it would retest every full-body X-ray scanner that emits ionizing radiation — 247 machines at 38 airports — after maintenance records on some of the devices showed radiation levels 10 times higher than expected. Complete article

Is there something that tells you this may be too little, too late?  Typical government approach.

21 December 2010 -  NO Proof Scanner Are Safe

If you believe the government, you have little to worry about from the radiation beam flitting over the front and back of your body in airport watchdogs' search for explosives and other hidden implements of terror this holiday season.


The Transportation Security Administration says that when working properly, the backscatter Advance Imaging Technology X-ray scanners emit an infinitesimal, virtually harmless amount of radiation.


The problem is that the TSA offers no proof that anyone is checking to see if the machines are "working properly."  Complete article

17 December - Leading Scientists Say Airport Full Body Scanners Easily Duped

by Fran Golden

Two respected scientists say they have discovered a flaw in airport full body scanners that could potentially allow terrorists to outsmart the machines.

In research published in the Journal of Transportation Security, physicists Leon Kaufman and Joseph W. Carlson of the University of California San Francisco say body scanner machines can easily be duped.


While the purpose of the scanners is to find contraband hidden on the body, some weapons and explosives would not be visible to the devices say the researchers, who are known for their work in creating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines used in hospitals.


That's because the human body and benign objects add "structured noise that interferes with signal averaging," the scientists say.


A "pancake" of explosives with beveled edges, taped to the abdomen, for instance, "would be invisible to this technology, ironically, because of its large volume, since it is easily confused with normal anatomy," the scientists report.


"It is also easy to see that an object such as a wire or a boxcutter blade, taped to the side of the body, or even a small gun in the same location, will be invisible," Kaufman and Carlson write.


Increasing radiation exposure to get a better image from the body scanning technology won't help, the scientists say. "Even if exposure were to be increased significantly, normal anatomy would make a dangerous amount of plastic explosive with tapered edges difficult if not impossible to detect."


In reaching their conclusions, the scientists used simulations (computational algorithms). They refer in their research to some photos of full body scanners not deployed in the U.S., but used at airports elsewhere.


The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) responds to the latest report with the same pat response it has given to other criticism about full body scanners, a spokesman telling AOL Travel News, "While there is no silver bullet, advanced imaging technology is a proven, highly-effective tool that safely detects both metallic and non-metallic items concealed on the body that could be used to threaten the security of airplanes."


The TSA adds that full body scanners are just one of the airport security methods it has in place.


Critics of full body scanners have raised privacy concerns about "naked" images and questioned whether radiation from the machines could potentially pose a cancer risk, among other things.


This week the TSA also took steps to debunk a rumor that airport body scanner images of "Baywatch" star Donna D'Errico -- who has criticized the TSA for singling out attractive celebrities to go through body scans – are in circulation. The TSA says it's impossible for anyone to capture scanner images given safeguards it has in place.

Sing Along with the Scanner


13 December - Inside TSA scanners: How terahertz waves tear apart human DNA


When Natural Health News first looked at the issue of the airport x-ray scanners it was 2006.  Even then we reported that there was a health risk f40m x-ray exposure and T waves.  In light of US government talking heads we know that this has not been properly addressed.


Now Dr. Russell Blaylock gives us his helpful opinion and read more interesting material  here and here

Dr. Blaylock: Body Scanners More Dangerous Than Feds Admit
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 9:58 AM
By Dr. Russell Blaylock. a nationally recognized board-certified neurosurgeon


The growing outrage over the Transportation Security Administrations new policy of backscatter scanning of airline passengers and enhanced pat-downs brings to mind these wise words from President Ronald Reagan: The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: Im from the government and Im here to help you.
So, what is all the concern really about - will these radiation scanners increase your risk of cancer or other diseases? A group of scientists and professors from the University of California at San Francisco voiced their concern to Obama's science and technology adviser John Holdren in a well-stated letter back in April.
The group included experts in radiation biology, biophysics, and imaging, who expressed serious concerns about the dangerously high dose of radiation to the skin.
Radiation increases cancer risk by damaging the DNA and various components within the cells. Much of the damage is caused by high concentrations of free radicals generated by the radiation. Most scientists think that the most damaging radiation types are those that have high penetration, such as gamma-rays, but in fact, some of the most damaging radiation barely penetrates the skin.
One of the main concerns is that most of the energy from the airport scanners is concentrated on the surface of the skin and a few millimeters into the skin. Some very radiation-sensitive tissues are close to the skin - such as the testes, eyes, and circulating blood cells in the skin.
This is why defenders using such analogies as the dose being 1,000-times less than a chest X-ray and far less than what passengers are exposed to in-flight are deceptive. Radiation damage depends on the volume of tissue exposed. Chest X-rays and gamma-radiation from outer space is diffused over the entire body so that the dose to the skin is extremely small. Of note, outer space radiation does increase cancer rates in passengers, pilots, and flight attendants.
We also know that certain groups of people are at a much higher risk than others. These include babies, small children, pregnant women, the elderly, people with impaired immunity (those with HIV infection, cancer patients, people with immune deficiency diseases, and people with abnormal DNA repair mechanism, just to name a few).
As we grow older, our DNA accumulates a considerable amount of unrepaired damage, and under such circumstances even low doses of radiation can trigger the development of skin cancers, including the deadly melanoma. I would also be concerned about exposing the eyes, since this could increase ones risk of developing cataracts.
About 5 percent of the population have undiagnosed abnormal DNA repair mechanism. When exposed to radiation, this can put them at a cancer risk hundreds of times greater than normal people.
It also has been determined that when skin is next to certain metals, such as gold, the radiation dose is magnified 100-fold higher. What if you have a mole next to your gold jewelry? Will the radiation convert it to a melanoma? Deficiencies in certain vitamins can dramatically increase your sensitivity to radiation carcinogenesis, as can certain prescription medications.
As for the assurances we have been given by such organization as the American College of Radiology, we must keep in mind that they assured us that the CT scans were safe and that the radiation was equal to one chest X-ray. Forty years later we learn that the dose is extremely high, it is thought to have caused cancer in a significant number of people, and the dose is actually equal to 1,000 chest X-rays.
Based on these assurances, tens of thousands of children have been exposed to radiation doses from CT scanners, which will ruin the children's lives. I have two friends who were high-ranking Environmental Protection Agency scientists, and they assure me that in government safety agencies, politics most often override the scientists real concerns about such issues.
This government shares House Speaker Nancy Pelosis view when she urged passage of the Obamacare bill sight unseen - Lets just pass the bill, and we will find out what is in it later.
When the real effects of these scanners on health become known, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and the rest of the gang who insist the scanners are safe will be long gone.

(November 26) --  I started covering the issue of the airport x-ray scanner four years or so ago.  Since that time many have hopped on the band wagon to speak out against this intrusive, expensive, and health-risky device.  Most researchers now tell us that it isn't really as effective as Chertoff and his minions wish you to believe.


One of my health colleagues added more information today, and it might interest you

Dressing for Scanners  Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press, November 23, 2010

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It was no crime of fashion, but Wendy Gigliotti's bulky sweater and ankle-length skirt made her a target of airport screeners.
A female Transportation Security Administration officer at Sacramento International Airport told her, "We can't tell if there's something under your skirt." She was then frisked in a way she said felt more intrusive than a physical exam.
"I felt not only like a criminal, I felt absolutely violated," said Gigliotti.
Gigliotti is among the travelers feeling mortified or even outraged by the more thorough security pat-downs the TSA began using this month as the holiday travel season begins.
Travel experts say the new scrutiny underscores the need for better airport fashion choices that can help people breeze through screenings with their dignity intact.

(Nov. 24) -- Deborah Hastings

Man Sues TSA, Claims Pat-Down Violates His Rights

An Arkansas man is taking the Transportation Security Administration to court, claiming new screening searches violate the Constitution.


Robert Dean filed a federal lawsuit in Little Rock this week, even though the city's airport doesn't have the new scanners that have sparked outrage across the country. Dean's suit asks for a federal ban against the machines and full-body searches.


On a recent trip to Chicago, Dean claims that being subjected to a full-body scan and being patted down by TSA personnel harmed his "emotional, psychological and mental well-being," The Associated Press reported.
The security agency said it does not comment on pending litigation, according to the AP.


"Filing for an injunction will stop these types of invasive measures until we can get a ruling on the constitutionality of this," Dean said, according to FOX 16 TV in Arkansas.


The invasive procedures violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, Dean says.


"The physical aspects of it weren't that traumatic," he said of his experience in Chicago. "I think it's the thought of somebody sitting behind a screen looking at your naked body doing these examinations," he told KTHV TV in Little Rock.

Tagged:  full body scanner, full body scanners, full body scans, pat downs, patdown, patdowns, robert dean, tsa sued

22 November: From I want to give Congress a pay cut.

Adam KokeshNovember 17, 2010 at 10:39pm Subject: Help Spread the Message - National Opt-Out Day! National Opt-Out Day represents an exciting opportunity for all Americans. This very simple, straightforward act of civil disobedience is one that everyone can get behind. Help spread the message and make sure everyone knows this is something they can support and participate in! Share this video and do what you can to inform people about this issue. http://www.facebook.com/l/5f40cB64tVwUeCceIhhCDFBq2HA;www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFlvg0qyCkA Love, faith, respect, Adam Kokesh TSA has met the enemy — and they are us 12 November - More on Airport X-Ray Scanners, as the battle heats up more than your body - I can't imagine people being so unaware of the risk of exposure to these x-ray scanners going in at just about every airport without the benefit of your health care provider discussing with you the risk/benefit analysis of this kind of exposure to your body. Obviously some of the smarter bears around town look like the airline pilots association and Peter Rez, a physics professorat Arizona State University. Rez has independently calculated the radiation dose of backscatter scanners  was higher than TSA has said. Leave it to DSA to spend millions on unproven technology like Chertoff's border detection system from Boeing.  Maybe Boeing and Chertoff need to make some payments to the treasury fro this big goof!  It might go a long way toward getting us out of the financial muck & mire we seem to be rolling  through. Read Complete Article At least someone is thinking outside the box, maybe you should too. 16 September - TSA Testing Privacy Upgrades for Full Body Scanners 4 August - Police agencies admit to saving body scan images  Capabilities of the checkpoint security machines are still shrouded in mystery http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38561251/ns/technology_and_science-security Despite claims by the TSA that electronic body scan images "cannot be stored or recorded," some federal police agencies are in fact saving tens of thousands of images, according to a report by CNET News. The body scanners, increasingly found in airports, courthouses and other places where security is high, use an assortment of technologies. These include millimeter wave scanners (shown below) — in which the subject is harmlessly pelted with extremely high frequency radio waves which reflect a picture back to the device — and backscatter X-ray (shown above) — which measures low-powered reflective X-rays to produce clearer body shots, shots that can reveal alarmingly precise anatomical detail. According to CNET, the U.S. Marshals Service admitted this week that it had saved thousands of images that had been recorded from a security checkpoint in a Florida courthouse. The revelation comes at a tense time. Two weeks ago, when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said such scanners would appear in every major airport, privacy advocates such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit to stop the device rollout. The reason? Because the devices were "designed and deployed in a way that allows the images to be routinely stored and recorded," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told CNET, adding that this "is exactly what the Marshals Service is doing." As CNET's Declan McCullagh explains, it's the mystery of the devices' potential that is most unnerving: "This trickle of disclosures about the true capabilities of body scanners — and how they're being used in practice — is probably what alarms privacy advocates more than anything else," he wrote. The TSA maintains that body scanning is "constitutional" and the CNET 7/17/10 New body-scanner software to show only stick figures Boston's Logan International Airport hopes to be the first airport in the country to get new software that should eliminate privacy concerns over full-body scanners at security checkpoints. The software would produce stick-figure images of passengers instead of the more revealing images currently viewed by operators at remote stations. The software would detect suspicious objects on passengers that require further attention - such as possible weapons or explosives - allowing Transportation Security Administration screeners and explosive weapons specialists to hone in on them and determine whether they pose a danger. 6/29/10  Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought, warns expert: June 29, 2010 Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought, warns expert 30 Jun 2010 Full body scanners at airports could increase your risk of skin cancer, experts warn. The X-ray machines have been brought in at Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow. Scientists say that the low level beam does deliver a small dose of radiation to the body but because the beam concentrates on the skin - one of the most radiation-sensitive organs of the human body - that dose may be up to 20 times higher than first estimated. 1/11/10 Airport Scanners Save and Transmit Scanners, ordered by TSA Better airport security in Israel 1/5/10 Updates re: Scanner Scam http://www.thestar.com/iphone/news/world/article/744199---israelification-high-security-little-bother http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/01/airport-scanner-scam 1/3/10 - "Body scanner wouldn't have foiled syringe bomber, says MP who worked on new machines" Read complete article T-Waves: A new model of the way the THz waves interact with DNA explains how the damage is done... " Drawing on sources like The Mayo Clinic and The Radiological Society of North America as well as interviews with prominent radiologists, molecular biologists, and medical doctors, ionizing (penetrating) radiation in any dose, no matter how tiny, causes genetic mutations, which set all living cells exposed on the path to cancer. X-rays are considered ionizing radiation."  Read complete article  12/29/09 - While India rejected airport sreening in the past, the Netherlands has adopted the process for flights to the US.  As this happens people wonder if there is anyone in charge at TSA and/or DHS ( a department we could rightfully have done without and one that now should be abandoned - think of all the trillions we'd save ) and Obama says no one at DHS is doing thier job. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This was originally Posted in 2006, based on 2005 reports, but seems to be current discussions, and needs to be considered by those who have concerns about their health. 10 second exposure with backscatter=2 minutes in cabin radiation exposure. FMI: Whole Body Imaging Technology, see what the x-ray machine sees. ---------------------------------------------------------- from repost in 10/2008: At the same time as the US Homeland Security Department is pushing for airport x-ray machines that expose your privacy, Germany is calling a halt to this non-sense. Probably it is worth your consideration to consider using some protective measures and to help clear the radiation exposure effects (iodine, kelp baths, our bath salt blend for chemo/radiation patients) if you're planning to travel by air. Germany says full-body airport scanner "nonsense" BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will not participate in EU proposals for airports to use full-body scanner security checks, which have raised privacy issues, its interior ministry said on Friday. "I can tell you in all clarity that we will not take part in this nonsense," a spokeswoman for the interior ministry told a regular news conference. The executive European Commission proposed last month to add body scanners to a list of security measures that can be used at airports in the 27-country bloc. EU lawmakers criticized the scanners in a resolution on Thursday, saying they were equivalent to "a virtual strip search" and raised serious human rights concerns. The lawmakers called for a detailed study of the technology before it is used. The Commission says a number of EU states including the Netherlands already use body scanners and the EU executive wanted to harmonize conditions in which they can be operated. The scanners do not exist at German airports and have sparked vivid criticism by politicians across the political spectrum. (Reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich; Editing by Matthew Jones) This was posted in 2006. I've noticed a number of inquiries on the topic of airport x-rays, so I am posting it again. So you plan to take an airplane trip in the future you say. Well now that the illustrious Department of Homeland Security is going to force you to be X-rayed, what is it that they have told you about the cumulative effects of exposure to gamma radiation in their so-called 'security" screener? How much more cancer risk do you need? And just what long term studies have been done, especially when considering frequent flyer risk. I guess I would want more data. LOS ANGELES (Dec. 20) - A woman mistakenly put her 1-month-old grandson through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said. Security stations at Los Angeles International Airport Damian Dovarganes, AP A woman mistakenly put her infant grandson through a security X-ray at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday. Doctors said the 1-month-old did not receive a dangerous dose of radiation. A startled security worker noticed the shape of a child on the carry-on baggage screening monitor and immediately pulled him out, the Los Angeles Times reported for a story in Wednesday's editions. The infant was taken to a local hospital, where doctors determined he did not receive a dangerous dose of radiation. "This was an innocent mistake by an obviously inexperienced traveler," said Paul Haney, deputy executive director of airports and security for the city's airport agency. The incident happened early Saturday, airport officials said. Haney said in 1988, an infant in a car seat went through an X-ray machine at the Los Angeles airport. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

HIPAA: Privacy Still at Risk

Most people have been led to believe that HIPAA is to protect your information, especially your health information.  That has never been the case and here is an item that calls this to your attention, even though we have been reporting on this for many years.

It is important to note that the HIPAA privacy rule permits public-health workers to use and disclose individually identifiable health data without patients' authorization. This is a major loophole that allows patients’ personal health information to be shared with many others—without their consent.  (See 45 CFR Subtitle A, Subpart E—Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information; section 164.512 “Uses and disclosures for which an authorization or opportunity to agree or object is not required.”)

Further, the information below should be an eye opener. 

Proposed Changes to Privacy Rule Won’t Ensure Privacy

The federal government once again is modifying the HIPAA privacy rule.  This time around it’s modifying the rule to incorporate legal requirements in the economic stimulus law passed in 2009.   But since that law doesnot require consent before health information is shared for most purposes (including treatment, payment, and health-care operations), the modifications will fail to truly protect health privacy rights.  IHF first reported on this in March 2009: http://forhealthfreedom.org/Newsletter/March2009.html#Article2  

IHF noted that while the stimulus law aimed to prohibit the sale of electronic health records, the exceptions are so broad that it fails to meet its purported objective.  In fact, the stimulus law actually permits the selling of Americans’ electronic health records for public-health and research purposes—without patients’ consent.  The stimulus law also limits insurers’ access to health data, but only if patients pay out-of-pocket and forgo insurance reimbursement. 

Additionally, the stimulus law expanded the number of people authorized to access patients’ personal health information without patients’ consent.  Previously HHS estimated that about 600,000 covered entities (and their employees) would have access to patients’ data for many purposes.  However, the stimulus law added some 1.5 million “business associates” who can legally access patients’ health records—without patients’ consent.  Now over 2 million health-related organizations and their business partners will have legal access to patients’ health data without consent in many circumstances (see table below).  

Number of Health-Care Entities and Business Associates With Access to

Patients’ Health Information under HIPAA Privacy Rule

Health-Care Entity	Number
Business Associates* (conduct business on behalf of entities listed below)	1,500,000
Office of MDs, DOs, Mental Health Practitioners, Dentists, PT, OT, ST, Audiologists	419,286
Durable Medical Equipment Suppliers	107,567
Pharmacies	88,396
Nursing Facilities**	34,400
Home Health Service Covered Entities	15,329
Outpatient Care Centers***	13,962
Medical Diagnostic, and Imaging Service Covered Entities	7,879
Other Ambulatory Care Service Covered Entities (Ambulance and Other)	5,879
Hospitals (General Medical and Surgical, Psychiatric, Substance Abuse, Other Specialty)	4,060
Third Party Administrators Working on Behalf of Covered Health Plans	3,522
Health Insurance Carriers	1,045
Total Entities and Business Associates	2,201,325
* According to HHS, examples of business associates include third-party administrators or pharmacy benefit managers for health plans, claims processing or billing companies, transcription companies, and persons who perform legal, actuarial, accounting, management, or administrative services for covered entities and who require access to protected health information.  ** Includes nursing care facilities, residential mental retardation facilities, residential mental health and substance abuse facilities, community care facilities for the elderly, and continuing care retirement communities.  *** Includes family planning centers, outpatient mental health and drug abuse centers, other outpatient health centers, HMO medical centers, kidney dialysis centers, freestanding ambulatory surgical and emergency centers,  and all other outpatient care centers. Source: “Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act,” RIN: 0991–AB57, Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 134, July 14, 2010 (see pages 40872, 40906, 40907, 40911).

Thus, the stimulus law expanded the number of people who can access patients’ health information but stillfailed to give patients the final say in who may—and may not—see their most personal health records. Rather than tinkering around the edges modifying the weak HIPAA privacy rule (as required by the stimulus law), it’s time to call on Congress to change the law to ensure that patient consent is required before personal health information is shared for any purpose, including public health. 

What’s more, although the stimulus law doesn’t give patients the right to control the electronic flow of their health information, it does require the secretary of HHS to post a list of breaches of “unsecured protected” (HHS’s term!) health information affecting 500 or more individuals.  The breaches are posted here:http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/breachnotificationrule/breachtool.html 

Sources:

• “HHS Releases Proposed HIPAA Rule Extending Mandate to Business Associates,” Kendra Casey Plank, BNA’s Health Care Policy Report, July 12, 2010.
• “Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act,” RIN: 0991–AB57, Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 134, July 14, 2010.

“How the Economic Stimulus Law Affects Your Health Privacy Rights,” Health Freedom Watch newsletter published by the Institute for Health Freedom, March 2009:http://forhealthfreedom.org/Newsletter/March2009.html#Article2