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Medical Privacy Rules Will Stand, with Caveats (04/13/2001)
WASHINGTON, DC -- In a rare defeat for business interests, the Bush administration said Thursday it would let a set of medical privacy regulations take effect immediately but would later seek to modify the regulations to address health care industry concerns, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Bush Administration Stuns Health-Care Industry, Allows Medical Privacy Regulations To Go Into Effect (04/12/2001)
WASHINGTON - Reacting to this morning's surprise decision by the Bush Administration to allow medical privacy regulations to go into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union today claimed victory against the health care industry, which lobbied hard against the regulations, but warned the Bush Administration not to dilute either patient consent rules or the privacy rights of minors seeking sensitive medical services. 

ACLU Tells Bush Administration to Implement New Medical Privacy Regulations Without Delay (03/30/2001)

City of Decatur Modifies Employee Background Checks in Response to ACLU (02/26/2001)
DECATUR, GA--In response to inquiries from the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, city officials here will alter highly intrusive background checks on people who work in bars and restaurants where alcohol is served, the ACLU announced today.

ACLU Says New Medical Privacy Regulations, While Not Perfect, Represent Major Advance in Struggle to Protect Confidentiality (12/20/2000)
WASHINGTON - Saying it will continue to press for important improvements, the American Civil Liberties Union today called a new medical record regulation issued this morning by the Department of Health and Human Services a major advance in the struggle for medical confidentiality. 

ACLU Urges Congress to Protect Privacy of Medical Information From Financial Institutions (06/14/2000)
"Privacy is vital in the health care context because trust is a fundamental component of the doctor-patient relationship," said Ronald Weich, an ACLU Legislative Consultant, in testimony before the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. "Patients are susceptible to humiliation and discrimination if their medical records are improperly disclosed." 

Company That Violated Privacy Changes Name (05/02/2000)
BOSTON, MA -- Two years after Elensys Care Services Inc. ran into an explosion of disapproval over its use of confidential prescription records, the Massachusetts database management company has taken an unusual approach to public relations, The Washington Post reported.

Although Medical Privacy Regulations an Important First Step, ACLU Also Criticizes Loopholes (02/17/2000)
"The Administration's proposed regulations are an important first step toward comprehensive federal privacy protections," said Ronald Weich, an ACLU Legislative Consultant. "But there are so many loopholes to the Administration's overall rule that medical records are private that the exceptions threaten to become the rule." 

ACLU Says Government's Bridge to the 21st Century Mired in Red Tape (02/03/2000)
WASHINGTON -- In a sign that President Clinton's bridge to the 21st Century is not yet on solid ground, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Department of Health and Human Services have been engaged in a three-month debate over the public's ability to weigh in on proposed medical privacy regulations.

ACLU of Washington Legislation Would Protect Medical Record Privacy (01/24/2000)
OLYMPIA, WA -- Responding to citizen demands for action to safeguard sensitive personal information, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington has drafted House and Senate bills to protect the privacy of people's medical information. 

ACLU Says CDC Guidelines on HIV Surveillance Could Lead to Better Privacy Protections (12/10/1999)
WASHINGTON -- New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control on HIV surveillance could pave the way for better privacy protections for people with HIV, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

ACLU Welcomes Clinton Medical Privacy Regulations; Says Major Components Must Be Strengthened (10/29/1999)
WASHINGTON -- Saying that the advent of the digital era has led to increased privacy risks, the American Civil Liberties Union applauded the medical privacy regulations unveiled today by President Clinton as a significant step forward, but said it would work to strengthen several of the proposal's major components.

ACLU Expresses Significant Doubts About New Draft of Medical Privacy Bill (06/15/1999)
After weeks of negotiating the differences between three medical records privacy bills introduced this year, Senator James Jeffords, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, unveiled a new draft of his legislation before his committee today. 

ACLU Strongly Urges Congress to Give Medical Records Same Privacy Protections As Those Given Video Rentals (04/27/1999)
Testifying on medical records privacy before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the ACLU said that advances in technology have brought about a revolution in every aspect of health care. 

Medical Privacy at Risk as Government Seeks Invasive Patient Information (04/07/1999)
The new data collection regime is scheduled to begin on April 26 when the health care providers -- including nurses and therapists -- will be required to fill out a 19-page questionnaire that asks for more than 100 details about a patient's financial and living situation and mental health. Other questions probe whether a patient is incontinent, smokes, is obese or alcohol dependent. 

Citing Wholesale Privacy Violations, Advocates Reject Revised Bill on Patient Privacy (03/23/1999)
Our analysis reveals that the proposed changes to the law severely diminish, rather than protect, the individual's right to control medical information. We also have serious concerns that, to date, the discussions about confidentiality have been dominated and driven by the lobbyists of the health care industry, without the input necessary from patient advocates to provide a balanced view. 

ACLU Endorses Medical Records Privacy Legislation (03/10/1999)
Barry Steinhardt, Associate Director of the ACLU, called the legislation -- being introduced today by Senators Patrick Leahy, D-VT, and Edward Kennedy, D-MA, and Representative Edward Markey, D-MA -- an outstanding effort to protect the privacy of American's medical records. 

ACLU Tells CDC New Guidelines for HIV Tracking Violate Privacy,  Ignore Public Health Research (01/12/1999)
The CDC draft guidelines recommend that states institute case reporting of people who test positive for HIV. The guidelines clearly state a preference for names reporting over the use of unique identifiers, a move that has come under heavy attack from the ACLU and other groups, who charge that the guidelines ignore strong scientific evidence. 

ACLU Warns Congressional Subcommittee On HIV Testing and Name Reporting (02/05/1998)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today told a Congressional subcommittee that efforts to mandate HIV testing and name reporting could severely damage efforts to stem the spread of AIDS.

ACLU Lauds Maryland's Alternative To Names-Based Tracking of HIV Cases (12/18/1997)
NEW YORK -- Responding to renewed calls for tracking HIV cases by name nationwide, the American Civil Liberties Union today released a highly anticipated report documenting Maryland's success with using so-called unique identifiers in place of names to monitor the spread of the AIDS.