HHS Final HIPAA Privacy Rules
http://hhs.gov/ocr/part3.html

Section 164.502(f) - Deceased Individuals

Comment: One commenter asked us to delete our standard for deceased individuals, asserting that the deceased have no constitutional right to privacy and state laws are sufficient to maintain protections for protected health information about deceased individuals.

Response: We understand that traditional privacy law has historically stripped privacy protection on information at the time the subject of the information dies. However, as we pointed out in the preamble to the proposed rule, the dramatic proliferation of electronic-based interchanges and maintenance of information has enabled easier and more ready access to information that once may have been de facto protected for most people because of the difficulty of its collection and aggregation. It is also our understanding that current state laws vary widely with regard to the privacy protection of a deceased individual's individually identifiable health information. Some are less protective than others and may not take into account the implications of disclosure of genetic and hereditary information on living individuals. For these reasons, a regulatory standard is needed here in order to adequately protect the privacy interests of those who are living.

- - hhs.gov web site

If the prescription database is under the management of a "covered entity" (an organization covered by HIPAA), then unauthorized disclosure of P.H.I. (protected health information) is a violation of HIPAA, even after the patient is dead.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fairbanksing

A gratuitous fabrication in a story when the truth would have served just fine. This style was made famous by Eve Fairbanks, Reporter/Researcher for The New Republic and opinion writer for The Examiner.

Alternate definition for Fairbanksing: writing a book review without reading the book.

She's giving some journalistic practices a bad name -- her own.

is another source for internet video of the hearing, but it's not free.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/4/19/95746/8206

Gonzo Speaks
By Big Tent Democrat
Hilarious Otter moment: Gonzo won't sit there and listen to you attack the integrity of the wonderful career folks at the Justice Department. Cue the Star Spangled Banner.

Otter: Point of parliamentary procedure!

Hoover: Don't screw around, they're serious this time!

Otter: Take it easy, I'm pre-law.

Boon: I thought you were pre-med.

Otter: What's the difference?
[Addressing the room]
Otter: Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests - we did.
[winks at Dean Wormer]
Otter: But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America.
Otter: Gentlemen!
[Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/4/19/143143/922

Congress' Duty of Oversight of the Justice Department: Gonzales Hearing Open Thread
By Big Tent Democrat
Thu Apr 19, 2007 at 01:31:43 PM EST

MSNBC anchor Chris Janning just said it is for the President to consider the competency of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, not the Congress.

It never astounds just how ignorant television newsreaders are.

But we should never let this ignorance go unchallenged. The Democratic guest on MSNBC, Debbie Dingell, did a decent job in her appearance but did not take on Janning's flatly false statement. She should have.

- - Big Tent Democrat

Deseret Morning News:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660208440,00.html

Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Hatch isn't ruling out top attorney job
[Hatch on Sunday 4/01]: "It'd be really tough for me to get confirmed, I'm sure, but the fact is, of course, anybody would serve this country. I would serve this country any way I could. But they're not going to pick me. But the point is, you know, it's up to the president."
[Hatch on Monday 4/02]: "I don't pay any attention to that rumor, and there is absolutely no merit to it. It is exactly that: just a rumor."
- - Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City

KUTV:
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_094202123.html

[Hatch again]: "We can laugh at that. It isn't going to happen. That's just Senator Leahy putting me down. He knows that's not true."
- - KUTV, Salt Lake City

Friday, May 25, 2007, 4:30PM, as the D.C. media are heading to Rehoboth for Memorial Day weekend, Senator Hatch's phone rings . . .

have written this, today, about today's Gonzales hearing:

" "
-- Instapundit, Althouse, Kaus, & Malkin