# Medical/Legal Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 7, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138 "2005-10-07T02:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/21 "2005-10-10T01:21:29Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Is it possible that the insurance companies are in play here? Perhaps your friend’s neighbor called his insurance company to ask if his homeowner’s insurance covered your friend’s bills, and someone from the company passed the info on? Or someone at your friend’s medical insurance company, not really wanting to pay the bill, passed the info on as a way to get out of paying? > > Not to say that there aren’t unscrupulous doctors/nurses/etc, but there may be other factors we’re not looking at… There simply wasn’t enough time in either example for this to be the case. Both accidents occured in the evening and the solicitations were made early the next morning. > [@PBear42](#): > > Agree with all prior posters: not permitted conduct, for the lawyer or the medical staff. Posting myself only to add a suggestion of what your friend can do about it. There are several possibilities. To me, the simplest and best would be to send a letter to the WV state bar disciplinary board (address probably available on the Internet), including a copy of the solicatiation. Send a “cc:” of the letter to the lawyer and the hospital. This might indeed result in disciplinary action against lawyer (at least a warning), but more importantly has a good chance of inspiring hospital to “do something” to prevent a recurrence. No guaranties on either front, but risk-free to your friend and, well, the right thing to do. He is sending a letter to the state Bar Association but since the solicitation was by phone it may end up his word against the attorney’s. I also suggested a letter to the hospital administration concerning possible vioaltions of HIPAA. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/22 "2005-10-10T13:12:06Z")
> [@Balle\_M](#): > > To his surprise, first thing Tuesday morning he receives a call from a local attorney asking if he wanted to sue his neighbor. He declined. At the time, the _only_ people who knew about the accident were he, his wife, and the ER personnel. Neither he nor the missus had called an attorney so the info must have come from someone in the ER. And possibly his insurance company? I think that specific types of injuries automatically trigger your insurance company to try to search for alternate people to pay for your care. I broke my wrist several years ago when I fell down the steps while visiting my father. While I don’t remember the specifics of the conversation, I remember getting a call from my insurance company, making sure that I wasn’t involved in an automobile accident (where they could pass along my costs to the other driver’s insurance company), and quizzing me about whether my father was negligent. It looked like they wanted to try to pass their costs for my health coverage along to him. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/23 "2005-10-10T14:28:39Z")
> [@YWalker](#): > > And possibly his insurance company? > > I think that specific types of injuries automatically trigger your insurance company to try to search for alternate people to pay for your care. > > I broke my wrist several years ago when I fell down the steps while visiting my father. While I don’t remember the specifics of the conversation, I remember getting a call from my insurance company, making sure that I wasn’t involved in an automobile accident (where they could pass along my costs to the other driver’s insurance company), and quizzing me about whether my father was negligent. It looked like they wanted to try to pass their costs for my health coverage along to him. Pretty unlikely that a medical insurer would do that, IME. 1. They tend to be the largest and most disorganized of all insurance organizations. Moreover, they probably would not get any information about the cause of the injury. 2. They’d be at extreme risk. They’d be violating HIPAA and state insurance laws. 3. They are the most protected. Insurers have subrogation rights. If an injured person sues and recovers, the insurer gets paid back much of the time. If the injured person does not sue, they often can sue on their own. 4. Involving a lawyer only increases the probability that the insurance company will pay more, at least in the short run. Ditto the neighbor’s homeowner’s insurer. Getting the injured party a lawyer is a surefire way to get the neighbor sued, which will only increase costs for the insurer. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/24 "2005-10-10T14:31:49Z")
> [@Balle\_M](#): > > There simply wasn’t enough time in either example for this to be the case. Both accidents occured in the evening and the solicitations were made early the next morning. It’s quite likely you’re correct, but just an FYI: Many insurance companies are 24 hour operations now- when I worked in crisis assessment, we always had to call the insurance companies before we committed someone to verify coverage and receive the pre-certs necessary. Even at 3AM, the insurance company would be aware that we were attempting to get their client into X hospital for Y reasons. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/25 "2005-10-10T15:46:52Z")
> [@OslerKnew](#): > > Legal - Absolutely not. Public Law 104-191, widely known as HIPAA, protects your privacy by prohibiting any and all release of medical information without the patient’s specific permission. While I agree that this act is illegal, it’s not accurate to state that HIPAA prohibits **any and all** release of medical information without permission. There are many situations where protected health information can be released without the patient’s permission, including: When transferring patient care (like from an ambulance crew to the ER), for payment (sending a bill to insurance) and for quality assurance purposes. ---
**Author:** ![OslerKnew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58f4c7/32.png) [@OslerKnew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OslerKnew)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/26 "2005-10-10T17:41:35Z")
> [@St. Urho](#): > > It’s not accurate to state that HIPAA prohibits **any and all** release of medical information without permission. True, an important correction. Not an issue in this case because there is nothing in the HIPAA law that would allow the kind of disclosure described in the OP. The release of information without patient permission is very tightly controlled, limited by the law as well, and must be accurately documented when it occurs. The burden of documentation, including the justification, falls to the individual or the entity involved in the release. Because the stakes are so high for hospitals if they are not compliant, there are very strict processes set up to make sure that the law is followed. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/27 "2005-10-10T21:19:40Z")
Agreed. Welcome to the SDMB, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![OslerKnew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58f4c7/32.png) [@OslerKnew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OslerKnew)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/28 "2005-10-11T12:39:50Z")
Thanks. Good to be in a community of critical thinkers. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/29 "2005-10-12T05:59:32Z")
Anyone every try _asking_ the lawyer how they found out about the accidents? What reasons could they give for _not_ telling you? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/30 "2005-10-12T10:07:34Z")
Point of clarification: Patients do, in fact, give specific permission to release health information to insurance companies. It’s one of the many documents that are signed during a health-care encounter. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/31 "2005-10-12T13:00:37Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Anyone every try _asking_ the lawyer how they found out about the accidents? What reasons could they give for _not_ telling you? What reasons could they _give_? I’m not sure. Depending on the true source of information, the reasons that they \*have \*are pretty clear: 1. The source is illegal or unethical and the lawyer fears the consequences. 2. The source may have asked the lawyer not to reveal the source’s identity. Out of fear of prosecution or out of fear of reprisals by people outraged by the invasion of privacy. 3. Wants to protect his source from others who might try to coopt it. But hey, it never hurts to ask. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138.md?page=1)