ABC News reports that in the joint LAPD-DEA probe of Michael Jackson’s death, the California Department of “Justice” has “offered technical support in terms of its powerful searchable database of patient information that includes drugs, doses, the doctors that administered them and the patients that received them.”
Does anybody else remember the earnest and repeated assurances from advocates of various government-operated health care programs — ObamaCare among them — that those concerned about invasions of patient confidentiality and potential abuse of personal health information have nothing to worry about?
As LRC reader Graham Dugas points out, this facet of the Michael Jackson investigation illustrates how centralized collection of personal health data creates abundant material for use in what the Russians call compromat, or political blackmail:
“Ahem…. Psst, Councilman, we know that you got treated for gonorrhea last fall and it would be a real shame if your wife and constituents found out. You really want to vote for that union pork barrel funding project now, don’t you?”
8:55 am on August 12, 2009
