A Tennessee hospital is now facing a civil rights investigation for turning the highly confidential medical records of transgender patients to a Republican Attorney General.
Hospital officials have confirmed the ongoing probe.
Tennesse Hospital in Hot Water for Turning Trans Patients' Health Records to Republican Attorney General
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee finds itself at the center of a civil rights investigation after allegedly releasing confidential medical records of transgender patients to the state's Attorney General.
As per ABC News, the hospital in Nashville is now facing severe scrutiny following allegations that it willingly handed over medical records of transgender patients to the Republican Attorney General. Hospital officials confirmed that they are already working hand in hand with the Office of Civil Rights amid the ongoing investigation.
In a statement on Thursday, Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser confirms communication between the hospital and the Office of Civil Rights.
The hospital spokesperson says, "We have been contacted by and are working with the Office of Civil Rights." But as of this writing, Howser refused to disclose further details regarding the ongoing investigation.
Associated Press notes that the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is leading the civil rights investigation to investigate the non-consensual release of patients' health records.
Patients Sue Tennessee Hospital Over Alleged Sharing of Medical Records
The probe comes shorty after two patients brought the Tennesse hospital to court, alleging that the medical center released their confidential records to the state's Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti last year. According to Forbes, the lawsuit is in response to a report that Vanderbilt Hospital turned over hundreds of patients' confidential records to a Republican Attorney General.
Skrmetti argued that he only requested the medical records of the hospital's patients in light of a medical billing fraud probe. He assures that he had no intention to target patients or their families, contrary to some allegations.
The breach of patient privacy has left many questioning the hospital's commitment to safeguarding sensitive information and has spurred a fierce debate surrounding the rights of transgender individuals. And as such, two of those 100 patients have come forward to sue the hospital.
The lawyer representing the patients, attorney Tricia Herzfeld, says the breach of the highly confidential medical records sheds light on a harrowing reality. She says, "The more we learn about the breadth of the deeply personal information that VUMC disclosed, the more horrified we are." She adds, "Our clients are encouraged that the federal government is looking into what happened here."
The pediatric transgender clinic of the hospital closed down following the law's passage, which banned gender-affirming care for minors. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the state legislation in March.
