A recent ruling in Mississippi where procedures become public record if physician bills are unpaid:
“If you don’t pay your doctor’s bill, your medical privilege is waived,” said Frank Russell, a former Tupelo judge who represented patient Patty Kyle. “You could have a sex change operation and if you don’t pay, they are going to let the world know.”The case, Franklin Collection Service Inc. v. Patty Kyle, began when Kyle did not pay medical bills totaling $6,390 to her doctor, the court reported in its decision. The doctor turned her delinquent account over to Franklin Collection Service of Tupelo. In June 2003, the collection agency filed a suit to recover the money under a state law.
In the lawsuit, the collection agency included an itemized list of all the procedures performed on Kyle. Her lawyer filed a counter claim that the agency violated doctor-patient confidentiality by putting the specifics of her procedure into the suit, which is a public record and available for anyone to see.
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Patient confidentiality is not an absolute right or privilege. It never has been. And it can’t be used to thwart due process in litigation, either. (At least not the way national security objections are allowed to do.)
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