Missouri health director kept spreadsheet of Planned Parenthood patients’ period

[Syt]

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article236773058.html

Missouri health director kept spreadsheet of Planned Parenthood patients' periods

The Missouri state health director, Dr. Randall Williams, testified at a state hearing Tuesday that he kept a spreadsheet to track the menstrual periods of women who visited Planned Parenthood.

Williams said the spreadsheet was made at his request by the state's main investigator to identify patients who had undergone failed abortions.

The revelation came on the second day of an administrative commission hearing that will help decide whether Planned Parenthood can keep its license to perform abortions.

Williams testified that the investigation of Planned Parenthood began after state inspectors found evidence of a failed abortion that didn't have a corresponding complication report logged with the state.

The spreadsheet, which was based on the medical records the investigator had access to, also included identification numbers and the date of the last menstrual period of each patient.

The investigation eventually found four patients that had to return to Planned Parenthood more than once to have a successful surgical abortion. The "failed" abortions led the department to have "grave concerns" that caused it to withhold the St. Louis clinic's license.

Williams, who was an expert witness for the state, was questioned by one of Planned Parenthood's attorneys, Richard Muniz. The spreadsheet was attached to an e-mail with the subject line "Director's Request," and found through legal discovery.

Williams, an OBGYN, was appointed as the director of the Department of Health and Senior Services by former Gov. Eric Greitens in 2017. Previously, he served in leadership positions with North Carolina's health department.

Williams said during testimony that there has been "a false narrative propagated" that the investigation of Planned Parenthood was "a top-down initiative."

Williams drew national attention earlier this year over a state policy requiring that physicians perform a pelvic exam three days before a woman receives a surgical abortion, even though physicians already do the exam immediately before the procedure.

Planned Parenthood called performing two pelvic exams 'invasive' and 'medically unnecessary,' and the rule 'unethical.'

Williams eventually reversed the rule. Pelvic exams before medication abortions are still required. Because of this rule, Planned Parenthood does not offer medication abortions.

[viper37]

4 patients with complications do not seem like a lot... how many patients have complications for any other kind of surgery?

[Razgovory]

I think that might be against US law...

[Malthus]

I think that might be against US law...

Legal or not, I don't know; but it is certainly a deeply disturbing invasion of privacy.

[Razgovory]

HIPAA laws are fairly strict.

[Malthus]

HIPAA laws are fairly strict.

True, and I'm no expert in US privacy legislation.

However, medical privacy laws in some cases contain exemptions for government agencies to monitor healthcare usage, which (depending on how they are worded) may allow for stuff like this, even though it looks incredibly wrong on its face.

The way Canada does it is very absurd - every province has its own legislation for health care information, and in some cases a separate system for non-healthcare privacy in the private sector; there is an overall federal statute that applies (PIPEDA) but not in cases where the federal government has declared the provincial legislation is "substantially similar"; where it hasn't, both regimes apply. There is also an entirely different set of provincial regimes that apply to provincial public bodies, such as hospitals.

Privacy law in Canada is a Kafkaesque nightmare. A medical device company selling equipment that is electronically monitored for use by patients and doctors in a hospital may have to juggle three separate privacy regimes, and in some cases, four.

[dps]

4 patients with complications do not seem like a lot... how many patients have complications for any other kind of surgery?

It doesn't seem that the problem was that there were complications, but that reports about complications weren't being filed with the state, which I guess is required by state law.

[alfred russel]

This is unacceptable. Period.