Current Events > Vanderbilt Hospital turns over transgender record to TN attorney general

(+) Yeah! (+)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Vanderbilt University Medical Center has turned over medical records for transgender patients to the Tennessee attorney generals team in what his office confirmed is an investigation into potential medical billing fraud.

In a state that has moved to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, the revelation that their records were handed over to the state spurred fear for some families despite assurances from the attorney generals office that the records would remain confidential and that patients arent the target of the investigation.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser said the attorney generals office requested information about transgender care at VUMC.

https://apnews.com/article/transgender-youth-records-vanderbilt-tennessee-4a4e7d846cfb05ed6feefc7deef24ef1

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said last fall his office planned to investigate VUMC's practices after conservative advocates published allegations that VUMC punished those who objected to its gender-affirming treatment program for children and that some treatments were used as money-making schemes.

Vanderbilt denied the allegations, but the story sparked a major backlash among Tennessee conservatives. Skrmetti and Gov. Bill Lee vowed to investigate the clinic's practices, though neither cited any current laws VUMC potentially ran afoul of at the time.
Paul Hales, a St. Louis-based attorney who specializes in health information privacy, said the attorney general has legal recourse under federal and state law to request patient health records if it is in fact investigating a possible issue at the medical center.
They would have recourse under the law if theyre making a valid administrative request, he said.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2023/06/20/vanderbilt-university-m-turns-over-transgender-patient-medical-records-to-tennessee-attorney-general/70338356007/

So a few points:
*This *isn't* Vanderbilt university's student clinic, rather the larger private non profit hospital that's part of the school - it's general practice at many colleges to refer students to their own hospital if they need more services than the university student clinic can provide.
*The request for records is under an medical fraud investigation but it *seems* there are specific requests for transgender patient records
*I am NOT a lawyer so I could very well have missed some of the broader implications

this is definitely not only for medical fraud investigating purposes, right?

Time for any trans person in that state to seek refuge asap before they take the next obvious step.

But muh hippa

God I fucking hate red states

DarthAragorn posted...

But muh hippa

God I fucking hate red states

They're couching it behind an obviously bullshit fraud investigation, which will basically neuter the privacy protections.

It's not like they were ever going to actually respect peoples rights the second it became inconvenient for them, though.

Indefensible

Actual fascist shit.

Funkydog posted...

Time for any trans person in that state to seek refuge asap before they take the next obvious step.

What is the next obvious step after getting the records?

DarthAragorn posted...

But muh hippa

God I fucking hate red states

Some would argue that overturning Roe v Wade made HIPPA powerless (as the ruling implied that there was no right to privacy anymore)

As someone who is trans, seeing stuff like this is terrifying to me, .-.

Prepare for violence

whitelytning posted...

What is the next obvious step after getting the records?

arresting people for having surgeries that they deem to be illegal

famfam posted...

arresting people for having surgeries that they deem to be illegal

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

These.