Dharmatess
New Member
My late fiance wished that nobody in his family, with the exception of myself (POA), have access to either his medical records or his treatment/care notes.
Since his death on Christmas day of last year (complications of CHF), his father and stepmother have told me repeatedly that his father's medical team (same hospital, although none of the doctors ever treated my late fiance) had accessed my fiance's medical records on their computers, and discussed various aspects with both his father and stepmother.
On the one hand, this doesn't bother me; if anything, if finding out more about his son's condition can help his father cope with the sad loss, I'm all for it. On the other hand though, my fiance would be furious to know this had happened. I do realise that since he's no longer with us, this is realistically (perhaps legally) moot, but it's something of a moral burden.
My (rather longwinded, admittedly) question is this: If this did actually happen, would it be in violation of HIPAA? I'm not really interested in pursuing any legal claim, as a) it wouldn't bring him back, and b) it would cause more harm than good, but I suppose I'm curious as to whether or not I'm being lied to (entirely possible, if not probable - I find it unlikely that Dad's psychiatrist would access fiance's medical records without permission) or not.
Since his death on Christmas day of last year (complications of CHF), his father and stepmother have told me repeatedly that his father's medical team (same hospital, although none of the doctors ever treated my late fiance) had accessed my fiance's medical records on their computers, and discussed various aspects with both his father and stepmother.
On the one hand, this doesn't bother me; if anything, if finding out more about his son's condition can help his father cope with the sad loss, I'm all for it. On the other hand though, my fiance would be furious to know this had happened. I do realise that since he's no longer with us, this is realistically (perhaps legally) moot, but it's something of a moral burden.
My (rather longwinded, admittedly) question is this: If this did actually happen, would it be in violation of HIPAA? I'm not really interested in pursuing any legal claim, as a) it wouldn't bring him back, and b) it would cause more harm than good, but I suppose I'm curious as to whether or not I'm being lied to (entirely possible, if not probable - I find it unlikely that Dad's psychiatrist would access fiance's medical records without permission) or not.
