The dismissal of the case against Dr. Eithan Haim in U.S. district court in Houston comes as the Trump administration in its first week has already issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights.

Prosecutors had said that Haim, a 34-year-old surgeon, took the information and shared it with a conservative activist with “intent to cause malicious harm” to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, one of the nation’s largest pediatric hospitals.

Haim works in the Dallas area but had previously worked at Texas Children’s Hospital as part of his residency. The indictment alleged that Haim asked to reactivate his login there and in 2023 began accessing information on pediatric patients not under his care and then turned it over to a media contact.

  • Terces@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    90
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    If the patients hadn’t been transgender, this would not have been dropped. It is illegal to share that data no matter what…

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      29
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      Oh you missed the news about congress wanting to insert AI into the medical system, including diagnosis and dispensing medicine.

      An AI does not have any sort of doctor-patient confidentiality.

      So it won’t just be trans people, it will be anyone who’s health issues make them undesirable in the eyes of the government. For example, people who turn out to be part of a group genetically even if they don’t look like it.

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        3 months ago

        Ah yes… copying United Healthcare is exactly what the official government position should be. It’s not like that has resulted in ANYTHING happening to the guy in charge.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          3 months ago

          The UHC CEO didn’t have trained government forces to protect him. Trump already has Secret Service protection and you can bet your ass that the first time anyone tries something like Luigi Mangione did, that protection will get far broader (to all of his administration if possible) and far stronger.

          Because corporations are super powerful, but they don’t have their own giant military and security forces like the U.S. government does.

          • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            3 months ago

            I never mentioned Trump. There are plenty of other department heads and managers that will implement these things, they’re just as culpable all the way down the line.

            Besides, Trump’s already had 1.5 attempts, and those show the Secret Service were/are utterly incompetent at active protection now. We saw what they could do, not prevent a sniper from taking multiple shots from a clear rooftop. And letting a guy sit in a bush at the edge of Mar-A-Lago for nearly 12 hours. Not exactly the best protection there, and that’s what you get when the primary requirement is loyalty over anything else, the real professionals don’t stick around.

            Because corporations are super powerful, but they don’t have their own giant military and security forces like the U.S. government does.

            There are plenty of heavily armed private security/private military contractors for hire. Fuck, Boeing clearly has at least one hitman on retainer given their recent whistleblowers. You honestly think billionaires of all people would have any problem hiring whoever they wanted to? Hell, most of those companies hire directly from the military anyway, so they have the exact same training, but get paid way better in the private sector to give some fucks.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              8
              ·
              3 months ago

              The people all the way down the line will have full military protection given to them with instructions to shoot anyone who looks at them funny. You have way too much faith in the system. These people do not care about the law. They are the law. America is now a fascist dictatorship.

              And billionaires don’t have one of the world’s largest and most powerful military forces at their disposal, forces that Trump has already announced his intentions to use domestically.

              People really need to stop thinking that things are not all that different from before.

            • primehunter326@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              3 months ago

              They are pulling protection details from people like Fauci, career non-partisan government officials who’ve been branded enemies of the right. Besides the obvious, I’m sure part of the reason was to re-allocate those resources elsewhere.

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      Not just that, if you did something illegal at time X, it doesn’t matter if it’s made legal later on, at the time what you did was a crime.

  • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    The indictment alleged that Haim asked to reactivate his login there and in 2023 began accessing information on pediatric patients not under his care and then turned it over to a media contact.

    And here’s a reminder that HIPAA exists in large part due to doctors/nurses basically blackmailing politicians and celebrities. If a senator showed up in a doctor’s office with the clap, medical staff would threaten to sell that info (basically saying they were having an affair or got cheated on) to the tabloids unless the politician paid up. Or even worse, if they were diagnosed with HIV, the medical staff would out them as gay.

    • kamenLady.@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      3 months ago

      I somehow didn’t really notice before, so many people were holding back their deep hatred for anything diverging from the “norm”.

      They all dropped their masks, even before Trump took over.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        3 months ago

        My daughter and I are now in the UK with the intent to stay, and in just the few days I’ve been here it’s amazing to see how little people give a shit about conforming to any one look like Americans are. The diversity here of just the types of clothing people wear alone is so refreshing to see. Sure, there are stuffy upper-class people wearing suits all day, but there are also guys in African Dashikis and women who would not look out of place in any Middle Eastern country (I’m not a fan of the whole veil thing, but it’s still different). You don’t see this stuff in the U.S. outside of major cities, and not even close to as much there, and the city I am in right now is far from a major one. It’s a little hard to explain unless you see it yourself, but just walking a couple of blocks to the local mall and it looks and sounds like you’re in an international airport in terms of the people around you.

        People think the U.S. has diversity, but just being here a week shows me the difference in terms of what we think of as diversity and diversity in other places. Sure, the UK has its problems with bigotry too, but it still feels so different.

        • valek879@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          3 months ago

          I’ve seen a couple of your posts. Is your daughter trans? I only ask because as a trans person I’m needing to get healthcare wherever I move to and my needs seem tog globally be getting more controversial. Any tips for getting out?

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            10
            ·
            3 months ago

            She is not, she’s a lesbian. And unfortunately for you, we were lucky because of British law regarding me getting citizenship via my British father. I wish I had better news for you. I think every trans person needs to find a way out ASAP. Hopefully some country will start accepting trans asylum seekers. I sincerely wish you luck and hope you stay safe. And I feel the same for all of the trans people I know stuck in the U.S., including one of my daughter’s close friends. I totally would have taken him with my if I could. His parents are only semi-supportive. No hormones, but they let him wear an uncomfortable chest binder to hide his breasts.

            • valek879@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              3 months ago

              Thanks for the quick reply! I’ve wondered about Canadian citizenship through family ties before, but my mom would have to assert her citizenship first and that’d never happen!

              Also thanks for your well wishes. It’s a pretty trying time. We’re good, my partner and I, for now since we live in a liberal city on the West Coast. But I’ve read books. How long will that last? Nobody knows right now.

              I hope your daughter’s friend is okay and stays safe!

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                3 months ago

                I hope so too. I am so worried about him and every other queer person (not just trans people, they’re just the first) in America. Because it’s clear what this administration wants.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    3 months ago

    That should be a criminal case of unauthorized access, before you even get to the hipaa violation