Lawsuit Filed Against Stimulus Act – Privacy Issues at the Root

More details are said to come out later. This is interesting that a nurse has filed suit and where it goes from here is anyone’s guess. One thing the suit does is make the point that privacy is on one person’s mind and she has spoken. BD

A registered nurse in Durham, N.H., has filed a civil suit against three officials of the Obama Administration alleging the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's health information technology provisions unconstitutionally violate the HIPAA privacy rule, Privacy Act and Federal Common Law.
In a complaint filed June 25 and seeking class action status, Beatrice Heghmann names as defendants Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform; and Charlene Frizzera, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The suit alleges that under the stimulus law, "the White House Office of Health Reform is in the process of designing a new system for delivering medical care to every person in the United States and HHS is in the process of implementing the new system."

The lawsuit alleges eight counts of violating the Plaintiff's right to privacy, due process and personal security; and violations of the Privacy Act and Federal Common Law.
The suit, Heghmann et al v. Sebelius et al, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and assigned to Judge Barbara Jones. The case number is 09-CV-5880. Attorney Robert Heghmann, husband of Beatrice, is representing his wife. Text of the suit soon should be available on the PACER legal database at pacer.gov.

Lawsuit Filed Against Stimulus Act