In a public-health emergency, suspected victims would no longer have to give permission before experimental tests could be run to determine why they’re sick, under a federal rule published Wednesday. more

Doctors are raising a series of concerns about the confidentiality of the electronic care records system. more

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R), who is running for re-election in November, on Friday said he not was trying to further a political agenda but to protect children when he sought access to the medical records of 90 women … Continue reading →

The Texas Medical Board last week adopted rules requiring physicians to gain written and notarized parental consent before performing an abortion on a minor. more

A bigger threat may be caused by the very companies who keep electronic health records, she said, because electronic health information can be compiled, bought and sold — sometimes without a patient’s consent. more

Five major U.S. corporations have joined forces to create a “medical Internet” on which some 2.5 million people can compile their personal health records in one location, providing convenient access to everything from prescriptions and cholesterol readings to family medical … Continue reading →

Banning home HIV testing kits is unwarranted and a breach of patient autonomy, a UK health expert argues. more

The Bush administration has no clear strategy to protect the privacy of patients as it promotes the use of electronic medical records throughout the nation`s health care system, federal investigators say in a new report. As a result, Mr. Akaka … Continue reading →

There has been much debate over whether GPs should prescribe contraception to under-16s without telling their parents. Contraceptives, abortion and sexual transmitted infection advice and treatment can therefore be provided to young people under the age of 16, without parents … Continue reading →

A hospital has lost 100 computer disks containing personal information about patients. The disks, which were to be destroyed, are believed to have been disposed of “inadvertently” with other waste. more