Back when I was arrested the arresting officer(s) requested a psychological profile/interview type thingee while I was in jail, which seemed like a decent idea at the time, but it didn’t turn out so great.
The psychologist came in and asked a few general questions and then started asking very specific questions about my arrest and what had led up to it. It was a very unsubtle shift and I had an uneasy feeling, so I asked if the answers I gave could be used against me and she said yes.
WTF!??!
Whatever happened to doctor/patient confidentiality, or do all of your rights get stripped from you once you’ve been arrested?
In my current line of work, I am an expert in an area of the law known as HIPAA - the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It’s a new set of laws that will be going into effect next year, starting April 14th which, despite the misleading name of the law, should prevent that from happening. The law has new national requirements for patient privacy and is especially restrictive on the use or disclosure of ‘psychotherapy notes’, which would fall under the category your describe.
I have to use the caveat ‘should prevent’, of course, because you didn’t say why you were arrested. The law won’t protect you if the healthcare professional deems you to be a threat to the welfare of yourself and others. So don’t be surprised that the psychologist spills the beans if you mention your intent to commit suicide because of the arrest, or how you are going to “make that guy pay for getting you arrested”. The other consideration of course, is that the person you spoke with may just have been a cop as opposed to a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, in which case they are not covered by the law.
Either way, none of this takes effect until April 2003, so state and local laws varying as they may - yes, they may have the right to interogate you with respect to medical issues at the present time.