Subject(s)
Clinical Trials as Topic/legislation & jurisprudence , Drugs, Investigational/therapeutic use , Patient Rights/legislation & jurisprudence , United States Food and Drug Administration/legislation & jurisprudence , Clinical Trials as Topic/ethics , Humans , Patient Rights/ethics , United States , United States Food and Drug Administration/ethicsABSTRACT
A human influenza virus is considered the most likely source of a pandemic in the near future. Quarantine has the potential to be the most effective measure for limiting the spread of infection. The major obstacles to compliance for those asked to enter quarantine include loss of income during quarantine and loss of employment after quarantine. We discuss current antidiscrimination and compensation laws, as well as options to expand coverage for quarantined individuals to encourage public cooperation by guaranteeing job security and providing income replacement.
Subject(s)
Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control , Employment/legislation & jurisprudence , Income , Influenza, Human/prevention & control , Influenza, Human/transmission , Quarantine/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Public Policy , United StatesSubject(s)
Confidentiality , Disclosure , Medical Records , Physician's Role , American Medical Association , Codes of Ethics , Confidentiality/legislation & jurisprudence , Disclosure/legislation & jurisprudence , Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act , Humans , Medical Records/legislation & jurisprudence , Medical Records Systems, Computerized , United StatesABSTRACT
Each year individuals are required to execute millions of authorizations for the release of their health records as a condition of employment, applying for various types of insurance, and submitting claims for benefits. Generally, there are no restrictions on the scope of information released pursuant to these compelled authorizations, and the development of a nationwide system of interoperable electronic health records will increase the amount of health information released. After quantifying the extent of these disclosures, this article discusses why it is important to limit disclosures of health information for nonmedical purposes as well as how it may be possible to do so.
