Politics: Onward from New Hampshire

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Not Me
Speaking of not showing up for work, where the hell is Ty? Did I say something to offend you, Ty, and is that why you haven't been around today? How the hell was I to know you are a polygamist?

Fine then. I am sorry that I said that polygamist shouldn't be able to marry each other. I take it back.

Maybe he has converted to a conservative and is actually billing. Hank, what do ya think?

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by sgtclub
How'd I ruin it?

Too tired to read the link, but I do think you should give the toys a try.

Excellent idea. I will take it under advisement. Where might one get one of these toy thingies? I am scared to buy one in Texas.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Excellent idea. I will take it under advisement. Where might one get one of these toy thingies? I am scared to buy one in Texas.

I heartily recommend the rabbit vibrators.

You can buy them here:

http://www.thevibestore.com/products...1&subCatId=157

[SPREE = vibrators]

Some of them are a bit too big for my tastes, but you can find smaller models with the rabbit ears.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Not Me
I heartily recommend the rabbit vibrators.

You can buy them here:

http://www.thevibestore.com/products...1&subCatId=157

[SPREE = vibrators]

Some of them are a bit too big for my tastes, but you can find smaller models with the rabbit ears.

Rabbit. Huh. Interesting concept. And here I thought rabbit ears were something to do with TV reception.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Rabbit. Huh. Interesting concept. And here I thought rabbit ears were something to do with TV reception.

You can also get them with anal ticklers, but as you will note in my post on the FB, I have a virgin ass so I don't know whether that feature is all it is cracked up to be.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
He would have been scooped on the FB for like an hour. While I stand by my dislike of conservatives, I can't help but be slightly turned on by the bringing of tax into sex. Mmmmmmm, tax.

And since life has re-descended into suckiness, I need that little ping. So get off his back.

I worry for you Fringey. I genuinely like what I do, and even I try to keep tax and sex far apart.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I worry for you Fringey. I genuinely like what I do, and even I try to keep tax and sex far apart.

Mary Carey was going to tax breast implants, thats the only overlap I've seen.

[Replaced_Texan]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/politics/12ABOR.html

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — The Justice Department is demanding that at least six hospitals in New York City, Philadelphia and elsewhere turn over hundreds of patient medical records on certain abortions performed there.

Lawyers for the department say they need the records to defend a new law that prohibits what opponents call partial-birth abortions. A group of doctors at hospitals nationwide have challenged the law, enacted last November, arguing that it bars them from performing medically needed abortions.

The department wants to examine the medical histories for what could amount to dozens of the doctors' patients in the last three years to determine, in part, whether the procedure, known medically as intact dilation and extraction, was in fact medically necessary, government lawyers said.

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A federal judge in Manhattan last week allowed the subpoenas to go forward and threatened to impose penalties, and perhaps even lift a temporary ban he had imposed on the government's new abortion restrictions, if the records were not turned over.

But, also last week, the chief federal judge in Chicago threw out the subpoena against the Northwestern University Medical Center because he said it was a "significant intrusion" on the patients' privacy.

A woman's relationship with her doctor and her decision on whether to get an abortion "are issues indisputably of the most sensitive stripe," and they should remain confidential "without the fear of public disclosure," the judge, Charles P. Kocoras, wrote in a decision first reported by Crain's business journal in Chicago.

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Judge Richard Conway Casey of Federal District Court in Manhattan, who issued an order in December enforcing the government subpoenas, said at a hearing last week that the department had good reason to want the records, and he threatened to sanction the opposing lawyers in the case unless the hospitals turned them over.

"I will not let the doctors hide behind the shield of the hospital," Judge Casey said, according to a transcript of the hearing. "Is that clear? I am fed up with stalls and delays."

Judge Casey issued a temporary injunction in November preventing the government from enforcing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He said last week that he was prepared to lift that injunction and possibly clear the way for the government to enforce the law if the records were not produced.
*
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Citing federal case law, the department said in a brief that "there is no federal common law" protecting physician-patient privilege. In light of "modern medical practice" and the growth of third-party insurers, it said, "individuals no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential."

Frankly, I'm sympathetic to the physicians, because HIPAA is very complicated and if they do not have control of the medical records, then they cannot produce them. I do not know the status of New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan law regarding the subpoena of medical records in a case where the plaintiff is not bringing his or her own health at issue. I'd be pretty pissed off if I had undergone a perfectly legal (at the time) procedure with no complications and my records were demanded in court.

ETA
That last quoted section really, really pisses me off. That same Department of Justice is supposed to impose criminal sanctions under HIPAA, and HIPAA's privacy regs were specifically written to restore an expectation of privacy to individuals in an era when health care information is exchanged with multiple entities. This same DoJ is charged with prosecuting the criminal violations of the Privacy Rule, and they assert in a brief that there is no longer an expecation of privacy? I imagine when they prosecute their first HIPAA Privacy Criminal Case, this statement will be presented by the defense.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
That last quoted section really, really pisses me off. That same Department of Justice is supposed to impose criminal sanctions under HIPAA, and HIPAA's privacy regs were specifically written to restore an expectation of privacy to individuals in an era when health care information is exchanged with multiple entities. This same DoJ is charged with prosecuting the criminal violations of the Privacy Rule, and they assert in a brief that there is no longer an expecation of privacy?

Just curious, but is this a records-privacy fight, or an abortion-issue fight? I've subpoena'ed medrecs with the ID info blocked, with no real problem - if there's no danger of finding out who they are, and the request goes to issues having to do with facilities or procedures, what's the beef? Seems to me, the heart of the assertions in the challenge has to do with medical necessity, and that should be open to review, right? How else to examine the issue? And, where do you see a conflict if ID info is out?

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

The Drudge Report's mars light is going off about some purported exclusive that John Kerry's campaign is fighting off some media inquiries about alleged recent infidelity...

More to come over there soon.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
The Drudge Report's mars light is going off about some purported exclusive that John Kerry's campaign is fighting off some media inquiries about alleged recent infidelity...

More to come over there soon.

It's up - marital infidelity.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by bilmore
Just curious, but is this a records-privacy fight, or an abortion-issue fight? I've subpoena'ed medrecs with the ID info blocked, with no real problem - if there's no danger of finding out who they are, and the request goes to issues having to do with facilities or procedures, what's the beef? Seems to me, the heart of the assertions in the challenge has to do with medical necessity, and that should be open to review, right? How else to examine the issue? And, where do you see a conflict if ID info is out?

My beef is regarding the medical records. I'm not pissed off that the DoJ is trying to get records that it thinks may be helpful to its case. I'm pissed because of the quoted material about individuals not having an expectation of privacy with regard to medical records.

As for your questions, I think that the hosptials are stating that it's impossible in some of these cases to remove the identifying information, because the cases are so unique. I don't see a conflict if the identifying information is removed, but I'd be very wary of exposing myself to a complaint from the patient if I disclosed too much information.

I haven't seen the physicians' response but I think that they're arguing that they can be cross examined, and peer reviewed literature can be brought into evidence. The District Court Judge in Illinois seemed to imply that this evidence is being asked for impeachment purposes, and I would think that impeachment evidence should be given greater scrutiny than direct fact evidence. Given the assertion of medical necessity, it probably would be useful to have a few medical records showing medical necessity. I imagine that the plaintiffs do have and have produced a couple of these records.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by sgtclub
It's up - marital infidelity.

From Drudge:

A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lockup the Democratic nomination for president, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

Intrigue surrounds a woman who recently fled the country, reportedly at the prodding of Kerry, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

A serious investigation of the woman and the nature of her relationship with Sen. John Kerry has been underway at TIME magazine, ABC NEWS, the WASHINGTON POST and the ASSOCIATED PRESS, where the woman in question once worked.

MORE

A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic stories -- stories that now threaten to turn the race for the presidency on its head!

In an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier this week, General Wesley Clark plainly stated: "Kerry will implode over an intern issue." [Three reporters in attendance confirm Clark made the startling comments.]

The Kerry commotion is why Howard Dean has turned increasingly aggressive against Kerry in recent days, and is the key reason why Dean reversed his decision not to drop out of the race after Wisconsin, top campaign sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by sgtclub
From Drudge:

A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lockup the Democratic nomination for president, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

If true (a big if), which is worse, losing the nomination or losing your marriage to a billionaire?

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Originally posted by sgtclub
From Drudge:

A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lockup the Democratic nomination for president, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

Intrigue surrounds a woman who recently fled the country, reportedly at the prodding of Kerry, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

A serious investigation of the woman and the nature of her relationship with Sen. John Kerry has been underway at TIME magazine, ABC NEWS, the WASHINGTON POST and the ASSOCIATED PRESS, where the woman in question once worked.

MORE

A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic stories -- stories that now threaten to turn the race for the presidency on its head!

In an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier this week, General Wesley Clark plainly stated: "Kerry will implode over an intern issue." [Three reporters in attendance confirm Clark made the startling comments.]

The Kerry commotion is why Howard Dean has turned increasingly aggressive against Kerry in recent days, and is the key reason why Dean reversed his decision not to drop out of the race after Wisconsin, top campaign sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

[Keanu] Whoa..... [/Keanu]