Fort Myers, FL asked in Civil Rights and Medical Malpractice for Florida

Q: A psychologist released psychotherapy notes without consent.

A psychologist released detailed psychotherapy notes without my consent. He disregarded HIPPA. I feel completely violated. This occurred 5/10/22. Numerous employees throughout the large healthcare system now have access to these deeply personal notes. How do I proceed?

1 Lawyer Answer
Charles M.  Baron
Charles M. Baron
Answered
  • Civil Rights Lawyer
  • Hollywood, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: You have a potential court claim for invasion of privacy, and maybe a malpractice claim. With either, there should first be notice of claim and request for disclosure of liability insurance coverage (prelitigation notice being required for malpractice, and optional, but wise, for invasion of privacy). You may also file a complaint the U.S Office for Civil Rights - see https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html - which might result in a civil financial penalty that gets paid to the government. By the way, the acronym for the law you are talking about is spelled HIPAA - two A's, not two P's.

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