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You have to watch what is dispelled.

A persons health care is a private issue, no doubt. However when the person runs a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company it is inappropriate and ILLEGAL to make false statements that could impact stock price, and that included implying a health issue isn't significant when it is now crystal clear it is.


I am someone who works in the healthcare industry. Under the HIPAA laws, it is illegal for anyone to dispel protected health information (PHI) without the consent of the patient. that means, unless you are the patient; or you are a doctor and have a signed agreement, from the patient, to disclosed information to certain individuals that the patient choses only - then by law you are required to protect and keep that information confidential.

Protected health information includes: Name, Date of Birth, address, SS#, Medical record number, account/Unit Number (usually a number identifying a particular hospital visit), any other identifing information where one could easily determine the individual, diagnosis, treatments (including medication both over-the-counter and prescription), etc.

this part of the law is in place due to insurance companies, employers, etc using this information to determine whether or not a person is insurable, employable, keeps their job, credit rating, and whether or not a doctor or hospital wanted to treat the person. Just like the old company practices decades ago of firing women because they were pregnant (and therefore a risk).

the fact of apple saying nothing is wrong - implies that Steve either did not tell them, or specifically asked them to keep it quiet until he was sure what it was and at such a time he wanted to disclose it.

fines for breaking HIPAA laws start at $10,000 per person per occurance and jail time. fines are also imposed to the company employing that person.

and from the seminars I went to, it is treated (by the government) that if X (person or company) illegally released information once, then based on the % of records they had access to, then the fines are multiplied by that percentage. the reason is, if they released detailed enough information once, then they did it multiple times.

Like the company who gave the seminar said "$10k is nothing, buy the time it is through, it is usually $100k or more for the individual and upwards of $1million for the company). And it does not stop with fines and jailtime either. If you break HIPAA law, then you as an individual is barred from working in healthcare again and the company can also be forced not to be in healthcare again.

the government does not fool around with HIPAA.

the fact that "the health is isn't significant" in your comment above, probably just meant that Steve was feeling good and there was not a concern. Now with this letter, it probably means that his weight dropped below a percentage that would seem to be an unhealthy weight fluctuation, and Steve felt it was time to disclose information to stop all the nonsense.

Isn't it funny (and I even get this from my doctors)... when I pack a few pounds, they say I need to lose weight. as soon as I start losing weight, they ask if I had been sick and start probing into why I lost weight :confused:


Apple and Steve did right (both morally and legally) not to say anything until Steve was ready to address his health himself.

Unfortunately, I do not think HIPAA laws applies to rumor and speculation. Here it would be nice if it did, because thanks to a few analysts and rumors - stock is down and now there is a credibility issue.

so the question is with your statment "it is inappropriate and ILLEGAL to make false statements" ok, was the statement false, a rumor, a speculation, or just someone saying "he is fine" which is a grey cover-all to not dispel anything.

Just like when someone asks you "hey how you doing?" and you answer "Good" when the truth may be that your not-so-good and just did not care to talk about it.
 
The cancer has come back - he is looking for alternative measures to treat it. Don't ask me how I know this, but its not good...

We don't know this for certain. While cancer is one probability, there are other chronic health issues people have mentioned in the above posts including one physician. People on this thread have mentioned they themselves have chronic health issues and can perform their duties.

If Steve Jobs were a paratrooper or professional wrestler, I can see where he may lose his job due to health issues, but until we know more, he is the CEO of a company he saved and successfully expanded. The Americans with Disabilities Act otherwise forbids the banning one from being hired, or from one being fired due to a disability, and this includes chronic illness.
 
Whatever it is, it isn't as simple or as innocuous as he is making it sound.
You may be right.

I think that the reason that Steve and the Apple BOD released their statements is due to the intense speculation right before this MacWorld. They had to do something to quell the tangents.
 
I told you all, he was sick!

This community is way to naive, I even opened a tread last night with my pronostic of Apple without Jobs. Apple is taking him away from the crowd in small steps.

Apple has not being driven by Jobs this year because of the amount of unpopular things they are doing. It is driven by some one who is sucking out the juice from the Apple and people's money. Is becoming more a corporation than the community it used to be.

Is Apple keeps this track in 10 years will be gone.
 
Steve is not the only person qualified to run Apple. If I gave you a million dollars and you died, I would still expect your estate to provide me with the desired payoff.

No, but investor confidence and hence valuation of the company is influenced significantly by the idea that Steve will be taking the company forward. By not finding out sooner, he misled investors by making them believe he was in perfect health. Luckily, his condition wasn't serious. That doesn't mean he did the responsible thing. The results do not justify his handling of the situation, they just mean that there is no imminent danger of his death.

The point was that my estate would not be able to repay the debt - that I had no family and no assets of value.
 
"...and Ive already begun treatment... So now Ive said more than I wanted to say

..."


So.. It's all a plot by Jonathan Ive to take over Apple!:D

I noticed too :) He doesn't use proper punctuation... I wonder if that's intentional, lazyness or ignorance :)

Anyway, I hope him a speedy recovery.
 
God Bless You Steve. May you endure a full recovery.


mail



It's tacky, but yes. If I could send him a Get Well postcard, this is what I would send. Truly he deserves our best wishes for a speedy recovery. :)
 
I too wish him a speedy recovery. I'm really glad he published that announcement. It was fairly obviously during his previous appearances that something was wrong, and remaining silent only added fuel to the rumor fires. As always, his response was well-measured.

The human body is an incredibly complicated machine. I can understand how it's taken doctors this long to determine what was going on. My son had the opposite problem: he was overweight for most of his childhood. He ate right and exercised but just couldn't keep the weight off. Finally, doctors hit upon an under-active thyroid as the cause. After he was put on medication for it, his weight just dissolved.

So now that Steve Jobs' doctors have figured out the problem, I'm sure he'll be back in shape by spring.
 
You may be right.

I think that the reason that Steve and the Apple BOD released their statements is due to the intense speculation right before this MacWorld. They had to do something to quell the tangents.

Then again, you may be wrong, sometimes the seemingly most complex problems, have the simplest solutions.
 
There he said it. He not dying. Stop making forum topics about what happens to apple after Steve.

Good luck on your recovery.

He is dying - as is everybody. Seriously though - Apple and Mr. Jobs have been less than forthright over the years and there are many things about this 'open letter to the Apple community' that set off alarm bells. If you read the letter beyond the health context you realize Steve is not running Apple currently and may not run it again anytime soon. It also stated in plain English that they THINK they found the cause of the problem - nowhere does it say they FOUND the problem. I smell CYA on the part of Apple in regards to recent stock slumps and rampant speculation. That is the responsibility of any company - but this just seems off to me. Why wait until now to report this? Why not do it right after it was announced he would not be attending MacWorld? We will never know - more than likely.

I am not a fan of Mr. Jobs in most any respect - I feel he has done many things contrary to Apple and THEIR long-term health but I truly and honestly wish him the best in his recovery for whatever problem(s) ail him. I also hope Apple lowers the price of the entire computer line, gives us a mid-tower between the Mini and Pro line that is upgradable and, oh - a Nano iPhone. Did I mention a 32GB iPhone 'regular'? :) I know, I know - and yes, I am only kidding.

D
 
A persons health care is a private issue, no doubt. However when the person runs a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company it is inappropriate and ILLEGAL to make false statements that could impact stock price, and that included implying a health issue isn't significant when it is now crystal clear it is.

LOL, sorry mate, we have been living in a world for the last 3 years or so where people spread rumours to bankrupt company's to make profit, insider trading is almost "Normal" practice etc. Why the hell do you think the world's economy is in such a state? So I for one do not blame Apple ONE bit for doing what they have, and I see it as in no way illegal when I think what investors, share holders and banks have been doing in the US and Europe to screw us up so much in the last few years and they will just get nice big fat bonuses for it.
I saw one **** say his bankers would all get a very reduced bonus package, but he forgot to mention his staffs average wage is around 250 thousand pounds per annum! Damn, put that Ferrari on hold then.

Rant Over.
 
"The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery."

Does anybody know what he means by "simple and straightforward"? What kind of treatment is it?

"a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my
body needs to be healthy."

i guess he just needs to eat some protein power bars.... :confused:
 
I told you all, he was sick!
<snip>
Is Apple keeps this track in 10 years will be gone.

Few said he wasn't. Most only said it's none of our business, then wished Jobs a speedy recovery.
You do realize that you're talking about another person's life, why don't you have a little compassion and be nice in your post.
 
No, but investor confidence and hence valuation of the company is influenced significantly by the idea that Steve will be taking the company forward. By not finding out sooner, he misled investors by making them believe he was in perfect health. Luckily, his condition wasn't serious. That doesn't mean he did the responsible thing. The results do not justify his handling of the situation, they just mean that there is no imminent danger of his death.

The point was that my estate would not be able to repay the debt - that I had no family and no assets of value.

Steve Jobs body does not belong to the investors. Apple will exist after Jobs leave. Will there be an initial decrease in stock value? Sure.

This is my problem with and the reason why I think we are in such financial dire straits right now. The company is valued based on personality and emotion. Here is a company that has increased its market-share year after year, great products in the pipeline and $25 Billion($25 Billion is a ridiculous amount of money) in the bank. The company should not be valued based on whether or not Jobs is at the helm. And if Jobs hasn't been able to create a planned-obsolescence plan for when he does want or have to leave then he isn't doing his full job as CEO.
 
Am I the only one that got missing characters on the smart quotes, em dashes, etc.?

I use a PC at work, so not sure if that is the issue, but I did try Western, Unicode, and a variety of other encoding schemes and they all resulted in bad encoding...
 
I disagree. As CEO as Apple, Steve is responsible for other people's money. It's not his company. Taking care of his health is part of his responsibility to them. By not making his health his #1 priority, he is actually putting Apple in more danger.

The easiest way to determine which side is right is to think about the worst that could have happened. That would be that he died...
I'm not lecturing him on how to be a good CEO. I know nothing about what it takes to be an executive at that level. What I'm doing is criticising his decision to keep the fate of other people's money shrouded in secrecy. It's an ethical decision, one that no amount of experience can help you decide.

That said, I'm glad for Apple's sake that it's not serious.

Understand your position, but now let's extend it to all CEO's:

Gosh, Microsoft's Steve Balmer's looking a bit chubby there ... what's his latest Cholesterol test say, and can we have a detailed rundown of what %-blockages exist in each of the main arteries to the heart? Afterall, his age & weight does mean that coronary health is a very real risk factor and a heart attack will take someone out a lot more suddenly than weight loss, so we can't try to dismiss it as simple paranoia.

Define 'health issue'. Going to work every day as usual, but losing a few kilos over a few months is no reason for PR statements about health concerns. There's losing weight, and there's losing a severe amount of weight which leads to ill health.

Particularly since weight loss tends to be a slow process and for most Americans, their Doctors would absolutely love for them to go drop 20lbs.

As such, the weight loss pattern here is: "good-good-good-doing great!-good-good-keep it up-good-good-okay-okay-okay-um-er-thats enough-no-no-enough-no-no-stop-stop-stop-STOP!-STOP!"


I'm am not a shareholder, but he is the CEO (he has responsibilities towards the corporation) and board member (and responsibilties to the shareholders) of a very prestigious global corporation. His life is going to be under a microscope and he likely knew this when he decided to take these responsibilities.

True, but it would be reasonable also to not put him under the microscope because of double standards.

As I said above, "Balmer's looking mighty chubby"... yet there's no public outcry for weekly updates on his health. So why the double standard? How about a motivation other than illegal stock manipulation.


-hh

--

Best iWishes, Steve!
 
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