You have to watch what is dispelled.
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
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.
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
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.
