Privacy ‘Protection’

“Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.”—Albert Einstein

The Department of Health and Human Services’ rule intended to protect patients’ privacy actually creates privacy violations and an ethical dilemma, especially for psychiatrists. As long as we have the greater responsibility for the care of our patients and the protection of their privacy, it is a violation of conscience and medical ethics to defer authority to any third parties, however intimidating, that attempt to acquire control without assuming a proportionate level of accountability and responsibility for patients’ care and the protection of their privacy.