One major reason we are overwhelmed with govt regulation is that industry will typically fail to regulate themselves. Executives refuse to spend money to do the right thing because it will impact their bonuses.
HIPAA exists because the healthcare industry wouldn’t spend the money to protect patient data. The govt added random audits, massive fines and more regulation because the industry largely ignored HIPAA laws.
This particular plant not only ignored regulations and laws, but they ignored common sense. Storing massive amounts of these chemicals when you have people living next door is criminal. The town leaders did the same by allowing homes to be built so close.
Protecting patient data? LOL! All your medical information is going into a government data bank now in preparation for Obamacare. So how did that work out?
The medical professional has always operated under confidentiality as well as the insurance industry. HIPAA's primary goal was to allow terminated employees with insurance coverage and pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage under a new employer without discrimination as long as the terminated employee had no lapse in coverage or failed to maintain it under COBRA.
The privacy part was merely secondary to the original intent.........
I agree.