Julia T Dental Professional

A friend is in the middle of a divorce. His wife took his private mental health records and gave them to her friend for "safe keeping" for her, surely not for her husband. I explained to her she was violating the law. She is in the military and also stated that her company advised her to make copies as well. I cannot imagine that her company would do that as it is against the law. She has not been given explicit written or verbal permission by her husband (my friend) to have the records. She even said to me possession is 9/10 tenths of the law. I told her she was incorrect that HIPPA prevailed in this situation. She is still insisting on keeping this records. I need to know where I can find the written specific law stating the right to privacy of medical records for my friend. There is a bunch of written stuff out there..but I really want just the basic written law in short form. Can you help me out? Thanks.

My husband and I want to go to the furthermost Northeastern Point of the United States next year to be some of the first people to bring in 2013. Can anyone tell me? It will be in Maine I am sure.

This would be if someone were to just push the power button to turn it off or if there were a power outage. Either way if the computer were to lose power without going through the traditional shutdown process. Thanks.

Is a state funded hospital in Georgia allowed to deny you treatment for pain management in their pain management clinic when you have a balance with their facility (hospital)? I have about $2000 in collections and $300 in hospital balance (that has not been turned over to collections). I have never told them that I was not going to pay but that having been out of work for over 3 years and we were living only on my husbands pay that we were not able to pay. We are only making the main utility and rent payments. We do not have insurance on our vehicles. I have paid the hospital occasionally...not often..but when I could...but still have that large balance.

My husband is a heating and air technician and living in Georgia the heat is not a big deal because it rarely gets that cold here. This weekend is going to be cold but...this is rare. So some weeks his paychecks are not so good.

This past week I was involved in another accident and have been to the ER at that hospital twice. Both times they treated me in the ER. It is the clinics that are not treating me.

We have medical insurance but are not able to make our co-pays. Plus I am on several medications and have to pay for those. These are not unnecessary medications. So this is why our balance is so high. The pain management doctor knows I have had 3 back surgeries over the last 5 years. He also knows I deal with pain chronically and have been unable to work due to this pain. He was supposed to do a nerve block on the right side and then the left side of my back (which lasts for a year to a year and a half) this month so I could get back to work and begin paying these bills. But both appointments got canceled because of the balance. When I talked to the doctors nurse today to tell her of my recent accident and two ER visits she told me that there was nothing they could do because of the billing issue. So I feel like my hands are tied.

It was my understanding that you cannot be denied treatment regardless of your inability to pay. When I talked to billing and asked about indigent care they told me since we had insurance we did not qualify for any financial assistance.

My general practice doctor says that his hands are tied (he does not work for that facility) because I am considered under the care of the pain management clinic. It will not make sense to change to a different facility because I still have the same financial situation.

Now I am going to have to find a job as soon as I recover from this most recent accident (which is really what I want to do but wanted to have the nerve blocks first so I would not have to ask a new employer for time off to have those done. Four days total. The day of the procedure and then the day after you have to have bed rest.) so that I can get these bills paid and get the treatment done. I do not like to take Narcotics but since this most recent accident the ER gave me a few. I try to stick with my muscle relaxers.

If there is anyone with any knowledge to this kind of situation please write back and let me know if I have any rights here. Also if you know of any laws, or persons whom I may contact, please let me know. I am in dire pain and cannot receive any treatment.

Thank you in advance for all your suggestions and answers.

I am a diabetic who is currently battling hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). My RDW was 20.9% and normal is 11.7 to 15.0%. Also I will mention that my Potassium, Serum was low at 3.3 when normal is 3.5 to 5.2. Also my Sodium, Serum low 131 normal is 135-145 and Chloride. Serum 93 normal is 97 to 108. On another note my LDL Cholesterol (the bad) was 113 and normal is 0-99. But my total Cholesterol was 197 and normal is 100-199. I had the A1C test done and my results were 5.6 that of a healthy adult. It used to be in the 8 range. Healthy adult range is 4.8 to 5.9. It even says on the lab sheet A1C results <6.0 reduce diabetic complications at the cost of increase risk of hypoglycemia.

My sugars are at times bottoming out as low as 40. When it gets that bad I get into a haze and I am vaguely aware of my surroundings but not what is going on. I have even fallen on the verge of passing out. The doctor has put me on Potassium pills till the 20th of this month and Cholesterol pills indefinitely. He has taken me off all insulin shots and one of my diabetes pills (Glipizide) but kept me on one (Metformin ER) which is a 24 hour version when previously I was on the immediate release. He did lower the dosage as well.

I plan on calling my doctor tomorrow so I can let him know of the 3 low sugar hazed out episodes I have had this past week. I think I need to be referred to an Endocrinologist to determine what is going on. I think something metabolically is wrong with my body. There is a Endocrinologist here local that specializes in diabetes.

Any information anyone can share with me or advice....I am surely open to. Any interpretations are greatly appreciated. This is getting scary. I am 46 and was diagnosed with diabetes in May of 2007. I am type 2 adult onset diabetic. Thank you in advance so much for any advice, answers to my questions and interpretations.

I have a chronic back condition that has resulted in 3 major back surgeries. Over the last 4 wks I have had 4 accidents that have sent me to the ER and I was treated well each time. One of the accidents was a 'freak accident" where an entertainment center fell on me. About a wk ago I was in the pain mgt clinic and my leg gave out and I fell. They immed took me to the ER. Again I was treated well. The next day my leg gave out again and I fell. My husband got me up and to the bed and I was in terrrible pain. We called the pain clinic and they instructed me to take one of my pain pills and go to the ER. I did. The doc there refused to treat me. There I was on a scale of 10 in pain and he was even instructed by one of the residents in the pain clinic to give me some pain med and remind me to keep my appt on today. The doc refused stating he was over him and did not have to do what the res said. So I went home in just as much pain as I came in with. Should I file complaint?