Ch 7 vs drug users

[CureTheSane]

Just to put a different perspective on things......

1. If an AFL player (and it has happened) was caught drink driving, we would see the details splashed over the news along with the alleged or convicted BAC reading of eg .07. This is a medical record and no-one challenges that it is a breach of privacy because they have broken the law.

2. Taking illegal drugs is also against the law. I suspect the current police investigations on how the medical records were obtained will also focus on the factual information in the records to charge those taking illegal substances. It seems to me that there is a witch hunt to uncover the way in which a factual document was obtained rather than dealing with the illegal aspects of the information within it. Harsh? Well, I think it is more harsh trying to nail a news network for buying a document they believe was found in the public domain.

I agree,

If a player was found drink driving and had injured someone or caused damage etc it should be reported just like any other member of society.

If it's a simple breath test it should ideally) be treated like any other person failing a breath test - loss of license etc --- unfortunately the players will always be publicised as they are in the public eye.

I can't name any of the last 5 people caught taking drugs.
and if I rang the police and said "hay, I found my friends medical records and it seems they have been taking drugs" they would laugh at me and hang up.

again, though, being in the public eye can be damning

[CureTheSane]

It's Thursday ... time to start sticking into the team involved.

You first

[CureTheSane]

I wouldn't want everyone's records available for big business to use but I could give a @@@@ if anyone saw my medical records. Good luck trying to find them the slightest bit interesting. Ooh, look, he had his ears syringed! He got a stomach bug from overseas! He had a cold! *yawn*

My high school Physics homework would be more exciting.

All my old physics work ended up being covered in omit one unfortunate day when I suffered from an induced stomach upset one morning in class.
Then I got the day off

[AnnieH]

You first

We have to wait till after 5pm.
I don't have names, but I do know the team involved.

... as an aside ... if these papers were found in the gutter (e.g. they could very well have been a duplicate computer print-out and were indeed rubbish), why weren't they shredded or put into one of those secure recycling bins?

Who cops the blame - the medical centre receptionist?

Ch7 would have had to have worked a whole harder if those papers had been shredded.


Yes, I'm a Gen X-er ... trust no-one!

[CureTheSane]

On the topic of medical records, I wanted to collect some old X-ray from Maroondah hospital last week.
They were about 4 years old, but I thought they'd be handy to have.

I rung Radiology, they asked me my birth date as the filing system goes by birth date.
They then asked my surname, and then offered me my first name which I indicated was correct.
They said they were in storage at a separate facility, and would be at the radiology dept. the next day mid afternoon.

I arrived at that time, told them my name and they happily handed over my X-rays.

Now I don't G.A.S. but anyone with my name and birth date could have collected them.
No ID, no fingerprints, no retina scan, NOTHING!!!!

CTS = horrified.

I should ring the networks

[NMWBloods]

We have to wait till after 5pm.

I expect another injunction.

[swansrock4eva]

I agree,

If a player was found drink driving and had injured someone or caused damage etc it should be reported just like any other member of society.

If it's a simple breath test it should ideally) be treated like any other person failing a breath test - loss of license etc --- unfortunately the players will always be publicised as they are in the public eye.

I can't name any of the last 5 people caught taking drugs.
and if I rang the police and said "hay, I found my friends medical records and it seems they have been taking drugs" they would laugh at me and hang up.

again, though, being in the public eye can be damning

But there is your point right there - yes they should be treated like any other person, yet because of an administrative "mishap" at the clinic (that is possibly the only way to desribe allowing records to end up in a gutter without swearing) and a journo looking to crack the big story, these players have NOT been treated like anyone else on the one issue that they should expect to be - their medical privacy. Yes they are in the public eye but that does not mean they should be happy with journos ferretting about in their medical records, no matter how they came across them. I agree that the drugs story in itself is a big one, and probably one that should be investigated, if for no other reason than to put some heat back on the AFL and their drug code, but if a journo has to resort to buying lost or stolen medical records to achieve that, then what's the point - as you've said, the way it's blown up has taken the focus off the drug problem and put it on the way the story was broken instead, thereby leaving the AFL free to avoid scrutiny or self-assessment over their policy and putting Ch7 right in it.

As to BACs and drunk driving, the reported level is usually taken from a hand-held breathalyser or the larger version on the booze buses - the recording of these results technially isn't medical record per se, so is not covered under doctor-patient privileges, and so can be reported in the news.

[Sanecow]

I expect another injection.

[Chow-Chicker]

As to BACs and drunk driving, the reported level is usually taken from a hand-held breathalyser or the larger version on the booze buses - the recording of these results technially isn't medical record per se, so is not covered under doctor-patient privileges, and so can be reported in the news.

Well actually, BAC relates to Blood Alcohol Concentration. This is where the driver has failed the initial Breathalyser and is required to produce a blood sample. This becomes a medical record and is used as evidence in court. This is what is reported in the newspapers and in other media sources.

[CureTheSane]

But there is your point right there - yes they should be treated like any other person, yet because of an administrative "mishap" at the clinic (that is possibly the only way to desribe allowing records to end up in a gutter without swearing) and a journo looking to crack the big story, these players have NOT been treated like anyone else on the one issue that they should expect to be - their medical privacy. Yes they are in the public eye but that does not mean they should be happy with journos ferretting about in their medical records, no matter how they came across them. I agree that the drugs story in itself is a big one, and probably one that should be investigated, if for no other reason than to put some heat back on the AFL and their drug code, but if a journo has to resort to buying lost or stolen medical records to achieve that, then what's the point - as you've said, the way it's blown up has taken the focus off the drug problem and put it on the way the story was broken instead, thereby leaving the AFL free to avoid scrutiny or self-assessment over their policy and putting Ch7 right in it.

As to BACs and drunk driving, the reported level is usually taken from a hand-held breathalyser or the larger version on the booze buses - the recording of these results technially isn't medical record per se, so is not covered under doctor-patient privileges, and so can be reported in the news.

Agreed,

the journo needs to be slapped silly, he is a tool.
But so are most journos.
Mia Grieves came out and did a story that I provided her with which was #3 news item on the night.
She talked compensation for damage done, but never paid up.
BFD, I didn't want a cent from her, but she said she'd pay for the story and didn't.
Next time I have a story for the news I'll be ringing another network and then her to let her know why I didn't give it to her network.

Medical privacy seems to be a big deal.
I don't know why.
Maybe lots of people have STD's or something, but it is what it is and should be protected.
Unfortunately when the news is out, it should be acted on by the relevant authority.

Brings up issues like priests dobbing in murderers and rapists who confess I guess.
I say priests should dob, and 7 should also have dobbed, but only about the drugs, not the STD's

[Glenn]

I expect another injunction.

and another Injection, errr Injunction

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22333318-421,00.html

[AnnieH]

AFAIK, AFL is the only football code in Australia that doesn't name and shame - first offence. The naming and shaming is done by a media release by their governing body.
The punishment is normally a suspension, or in extreme cases, sacking from the team.

I just think it puts out the wrong message to the impressionable members of society that hold these people up on their pedestals that it's ok to take drugs and play AFL. You get three chances before you're sent to counselling?? You should be afforded the opportunity of being sent to compulsory counselling after the first strike.

[AnnieH]

and another Injection, errr Injunction

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...18-421,00.html

Damn. That was close. 20 more minutes and I would have been in speculation heaven!!

Last Friday's story was based on medical documents sold to them by a woman who claimed to have found them in a gutter outside a drug treatment centre.

That woman has now been charged with theft.

They were allegedly found outside a drug treatment centre.
How can you be charged with stealing things from the gutter?
Go figure.

[Sanecow]

They were allegedly found outside a drug treatment centre.
How can you be charged with stealing things from the gutter?

Think about it.

[NMWBloods]

I don't see why people should be named and shamed using recreational drugs.