Kudos to Chief Judge Cathy Bissoon for blocking the DOJ’s subpoena for the medical records of transgender children and to UPMC Children’s Hospital for refusing to turn over those records (“Judge blocks access to UPMC transgender care records,” Dec. 27, TribLive). As Bissoon wrote, this request for “deeply private and personal patient information carries more than a whiff of ill-intent.” This is another attempt at political persecution by President Trump.
Whether or not one supports gender-affirming care, it should frighten everyone that the government would subpoena medical records. The HIPAA law was created because the doctor-patient relationship is sacrosanct, as are medical records. Patients must feel safe that their most private medical information is absolutely confidential and will not be disclosed to the government or anyone else. If the government succeeds in obtaining these medical records I worry about the mental health effects on these young patients. I am also concerned for the professional consequences for their health care providers.
I fear that this will set a precedent for the government’s ability to obtain the medical records of anyone that Trump has a vendetta against. He has manipulated the legal system by filing needless lawsuits against his political opponents; now he is manipulating the health care system in his vendetta against transgender people.
Marjorie Mills
McCandless