I need help finding a lawyer
Lawyers.com
06-04-2010 6:40 PM
futurion
Consumer
Joined on 01-23-2008
Posts 22
Hi. I need help finding a lawyer who can help me sue [an organization]. My ex-wife, in an
attempt to cover her wrongdoing, said a very slanderous thing about me to a phone nurse
who takes calls (namely, she claimed that I had been convicted of a very hienous crime
when, in fact, my criminal record is clean. Then, in the visit following the phone call my ex
made, it was determined, by my ex's own admission, that something bad was going on in
her house which explained why she said what she did about me, so that it would take
attention away from what was going on in her house), and then [the] staff made the
decision to write the comment in my son's medical records (without any investigation to see
if it was true) which my ex-wife and [the organization] has now shared with other agencies in
the area, to include my son's school, etc. Then [the organization] tried to hide the comment
from me by blacking it out when I requested a copy of my son's medical records. I only
found out because I noticed that when I went to receive care that I was being treated
differently (like I was a monster), and finally I asked a nurse if I had done something wrong
to make everyone mad at me, and she told me to look in my son's medical records on a
certain date (the date in my son's records that contained the false remark about me), and
so I went to medical records and, with the help of a friend who now works there, I found out
what my ex had said about me which was causing everyone to treat me badly. After that I
went with a copy of my clean criminal record and requested an immediate amendment to my
son's records. Since then all [the organization] has done (over the last month and a half) is
tell me that they "need more time" to investigate the situation. I believe that I have a strong
case against (based on the book "Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration" which,
ironically enough, [the organization] keeps in it's training library for it's staff to use), but I
need a good attorney who can show them that they cannot ruin people's lives by putting
comments about one person in another person's medical records that are slanderous and
extremely damaging (comments that have nothing to do with the care of the patient and are
about another person entirely) and then, not only hide the comments from the person who
is being slandered, but share the comments via the medical records with important people
and important agencies in the community where the slandered person lives. This might
even be a class action matter because the nurse who finally helped me told me that it goes
on all the time, and that [the organization] even has a "code" that they use on people's
records that tells staff if they are criminals, etc., it does not matter if the comments are true
or just rumors, and that these comments are written in something called a "staff journal log",
so I am sure that there are other people who are out there who have had this very same
thing happen to them, most of whom probably have no idea what is being said about them.
One final note, the crime that my ex said that I was convicted of is the type of crime that
would never be expunged from a criminal record, and would even label the person who was
convicted of it publically for life, so that is not the situation here, as I can clearly prove that I
have never been convicted of any crime. In addition, it is the type of crime that everyone
has the same reaction to, and it is a very bad reaction directed towards the person who was
convicted of the crime, so it has damaged me, and is still damaging me, very severely.
06-04-2010 7:06 PM In reply to
ClydesMom
Consumer
Joined on 10-25-2003
GA
Posts 8,804
Re: I need help finding a lawyer
Reply
I have been in the medical field over 25 years and here are your options:
1) file a HIPAA complaint with the Department of Health and Human services
regarding the unauthorized release of your medical information to third parties
without consent. You can find the information to file a complaint here:
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html
Be aware that there are no civil penalties for HIPAA violations. Meaning you
cannot sue the health care provider. The only thing you are legally entitled to
regarding this entry in your medical record is a correction of the record.
2) your slander claim is against your ex-wife but in order to prevail you have to
prove actual damages as Lynn said.
"that [medical provider] even has a "code" that they use on people's
records that tells staff if they are criminals, etc."
There is nothing illegal about coding a patient chart with internal language
that alerts staff to potential situations. Many times patient charts are
coded to alert staff to drug seeking patients, special needs, potentially
dangerous patients etc. The patient has a right to review their chart in all
fifty states and correct inaccurate information.
"That's just my opinion, then again I might be wrong." Dennis Miller
Lawyers.com
06-04-2010 6:40 PM
futurion
Consumer
Joined on 01-23-2008
Posts 22
Hi. I need help finding a lawyer who can help me sue [an organization]. My ex-wife, in an
attempt to cover her wrongdoing, said a very slanderous thing about me to a phone nurse
who takes calls (namely, she claimed that I had been convicted of a very hienous crime
when, in fact, my criminal record is clean. Then, in the visit following the phone call my ex
made, it was determined, by my ex's own admission, that something bad was going on in
her house which explained why she said what she did about me, so that it would take
attention away from what was going on in her house), and then [the] staff made the
decision to write the comment in my son's medical records (without any investigation to see
if it was true) which my ex-wife and [the organization] has now shared with other agencies in
the area, to include my son's school, etc. Then [the organization] tried to hide the comment
from me by blacking it out when I requested a copy of my son's medical records. I only
found out because I noticed that when I went to receive care that I was being treated
differently (like I was a monster), and finally I asked a nurse if I had done something wrong
to make everyone mad at me, and she told me to look in my son's medical records on a
certain date (the date in my son's records that contained the false remark about me), and
so I went to medical records and, with the help of a friend who now works there, I found out
what my ex had said about me which was causing everyone to treat me badly. After that I
went with a copy of my clean criminal record and requested an immediate amendment to my
son's records. Since then all [the organization] has done (over the last month and a half) is
tell me that they "need more time" to investigate the situation. I believe that I have a strong
case against (based on the book "Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration" which,
ironically enough, [the organization] keeps in it's training library for it's staff to use), but I
need a good attorney who can show them that they cannot ruin people's lives by putting
comments about one person in another person's medical records that are slanderous and
extremely damaging (comments that have nothing to do with the care of the patient and are
about another person entirely) and then, not only hide the comments from the person who
is being slandered, but share the comments via the medical records with important people
and important agencies in the community where the slandered person lives. This might
even be a class action matter because the nurse who finally helped me told me that it goes
on all the time, and that [the organization] even has a "code" that they use on people's
records that tells staff if they are criminals, etc., it does not matter if the comments are true
or just rumors, and that these comments are written in something called a "staff journal log",
so I am sure that there are other people who are out there who have had this very same
thing happen to them, most of whom probably have no idea what is being said about them.
One final note, the crime that my ex said that I was convicted of is the type of crime that
would never be expunged from a criminal record, and would even label the person who was
convicted of it publically for life, so that is not the situation here, as I can clearly prove that I
have never been convicted of any crime. In addition, it is the type of crime that everyone
has the same reaction to, and it is a very bad reaction directed towards the person who was
convicted of the crime, so it has damaged me, and is still damaging me, very severely.
06-04-2010 7:06 PM In reply to
ClydesMom
Consumer
Joined on 10-25-2003
GA
Posts 8,804
Re: I need help finding a lawyer
Reply
I have been in the medical field over 25 years and here are your options:
1) file a HIPAA complaint with the Department of Health and Human services
regarding the unauthorized release of your medical information to third parties
without consent. You can find the information to file a complaint here:
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html
Be aware that there are no civil penalties for HIPAA violations. Meaning you
cannot sue the health care provider. The only thing you are legally entitled to
regarding this entry in your medical record is a correction of the record.
2) your slander claim is against your ex-wife but in order to prevail you have to
prove actual damages as Lynn said.
"that [medical provider] even has a "code" that they use on people's
records that tells staff if they are criminals, etc."
There is nothing illegal about coding a patient chart with internal language
that alerts staff to potential situations. Many times patient charts are
coded to alert staff to drug seeking patients, special needs, potentially
dangerous patients etc. The patient has a right to review their chart in all
fifty states and correct inaccurate information.
"That's just my opinion, then again I might be wrong." Dennis Miller
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Coding medical records