FBI retains access to medical records under the newly reauthorized Patriot Act

Changes address some patient confidentiality concerns but many doctors worry they don't go far enough.

By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews correspondent. March 27, 2006.

The renewed USA Patriot Act continues to allow the FBI to search confidential medical records as part of counterterrorism investigations but provides new legal options for physicians ordered to hand over patients' records.

The bill's passage this month came after months of delays and negotiations over key provisions of the federal antiterrorism law, which some lawmakers criticized for not adequately protecting civil liberties. In the end, the bill passed by wide margins in both chambers -- 89-10 in the Senate and 280-138 in the House.

President Bush signed the bill into law March 9, just one day before the original Patriot Act was set to expire.

The new law makes permanent 14 of the Patriot Act's 16 provisions, but it extends two provisions for only four years. One of those two is Section 215, which allows the FBI to conduct secret searches of private records, including medical records.

Section 215 has raised concern among physicians, some of whom say the provision could compromise patient confidentiality and undermine the integrity of the physician-patient relationship.

Under that part of the law, physicians are required to hand over patients' medical records when requested by the FBI as part of a counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation. But the section prohibits them from telling patients their records have been disclosed.

The American Medical Association and other physician groups have advocated lifting that "gag order" on doctors.