The real culprits are the people who tried to dupe EE.
It's a little late to be playing that card, she already admitted she KNEW it was wrong, did it anyway. She knew they were dead too.
I'm getting tired of everyone blaming someone else. When do responsible adults start taking responsibility for their own actions and stop blaming everyone else?
I just read this on another thread. Does a handicapped tag, or a death certificate, with a doctors documentation, fall under the heading of medical records? And does the town clerk's office get copies of the residents death certificates? If they do....she's guilty!
Quoted Text
Other Laws That Protect Privacy
The Personal Privacy Protection Law is one among many laws that ensure that privacy is protected. Examples of other statutes that require confidentiality or prohibit disclosure to the public deal with:
personal income tax applicants for or recipients of public assistance medical records mental health records education records pertaining to students police records concerning juveniles claims for unemployment insurance benefits drug abuse rent control vocational rehabilitation applicants for or tenants in public housing child abuse adoption arrest records on persons against whom charges have been dismissed victims of sex offenses under the age of 18 years grand jury proceedings care and protection of children in receipt of social services autopsy reports * It is noted that the Freedom of Information Law prohibits release of information by a state agency if the release would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I'm in agreement with ya here...BUT.....how protected can these document be? I mean these handicapped tags are right in view in your car windshield, with your license plates, with you in the car, pulling in and out of YOUR driveway and parking in a handicapped parking space. I don't think it's a big hidden secret goin' on here.
Listen, this whole 'handicapped thing' is government created. They put the laws in place. They decides who hands them out. The minute the government took the responsibility of issuing these tags......it is open to the public.
Like I said before.....take it up with your government officials.
TEMPORARY DISABILITY: A person with a temporary disability is any person who is temporarily unable to ambulate without the aid of an assisting device. Examples of an assisting device include, but are not limited to, a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, another person, wheelchair or walker. IMPORTANT: Temporary permits are issued for six months or less regardless of expected recovery date. Diagnosis:_____________________________________________________ Expected Recovery Date:______________________ What assistive device is needed?
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PERMANENT DISABILITY: A “severely disabled” person is any person with one or more of the PERMANENT impairments, disabilities or conditions listed below, which limit mobility. Diagnosis:____________________________________________________ Please check the conditions that apply: Uses portable oxygen Legally blind Limited or no use of one or both legs Unable to walk 200 ft. without stopping Neuromuscular dysfunction that severely limits mobility Class III or IV cardiac condition. (American Heart Assoc. standards) Severely limited in ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological or orthopedic condition Restricted by lung disease to such an extent that forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg of room air at rest Has a physical or mental impairment or condition not listed above which constitutes an equal degree of disability, and which imposes unusual hardship in the use of public transportation and prevents the person from getting around without great difficulty.
HIPAA states:
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Protected Health Information. The Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information "protected health information (PHI)."12
“Individually identifiable health information” is information, including demographic data, that relates to:
* the individual’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition, * the provision of health care to the individual, or * the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual,
and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual.13 Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).
All that information (the individual’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition) ... and personally identifiable information, is all found on that DMV form .. it APPEARS it should be covered, but doesn't say it specifically.
State public records laws, also known as open records or freedom of information laws, all provide for certain public access to government records. How does the HIPAA Privacy Rule relate to these state laws? Answer: If a state agency is not a “covered entity”, as that term is defined at 45 CFR 160.103, it is not required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and, thus, any disclosure of information by the state agency pursuant to its state public records law would not be subject to the Privacy Rule.
However, where a state public records law only permits, and does not mandate, the disclosure of protected health information, or where exceptions or other qualifications apply to exempt the protected health information from the state law’s disclosure requirement, such disclosures are not “required by law” and thus, would not fall within § 164.512(a) of the Privacy Rule. For example, if a state public records law includes an exemption that affords a state agency discretion not to disclose medical or other information where such disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the disclosure of such records is not required by the public records law, and therefore is not permissible under § 164.512(a). In such cases, a covered entity only would be able to make the disclosure if permitted by another provision of the Privacy Rule.
I'm going to make it a point to call DMV tomorrow to find out if this information is to be released under FOIL - or if it's protected by HIPAA ... I'll report back the response I get. It seems that this might be a "gray area" that needs to be defined by a legal expert. Too bad none of the local media is reporting on this They've got infinitely more resources than us "armchair lawyers"
NO ONE TOLD HER SHE WAS SIGNING FOR A DEAD PERSON. THE PEOPLE WHO PRESENTED THESE DOCOUMENTS PROBABLY GAVE HER AN EXCUSE WHY THE SENIOR COULDN'T BE IN TOWN HALL. EE FELL FOR IT.
Duped her?? You bet. I blame the family who took advantage of EE. Calm down Senders. Try some logical thinking.
Boomber, do you understand that the law says in order for a notary to notarize a document, it must be signed in the presence of the notary? Not signed before hand and brought by the wife, not signed by the individual and then brought by that individual to the notary, the document MUST BE SIGNED in the presence of the notary! I am a notary, there is no story someone could tell me that would lead me to notarize the document illegally. The issue isn't that the person is dead. The issue is that she notarized the signature made outside of her presence. The fact that the supposed signer was dead is only the evidence to prove that she violated notary law.
NO ONE TOLD HER SHE WAS SIGNING FOR A DEAD PERSON. THE PEOPLE WHO PRESENTED THESE DOCOUMENTS PROBABLY GAVE HER AN EXCUSE WHY THE SENIOR COULDN'T BE IN TOWN HALL. EE FELL FOR IT.
Duped her?? You bet. I blame the family who took advantage of EE. Calm down Senders. Try some logical thinking.
okay,,,,here's logic....as a nurse I will give you an example.....
let's say you are my patient and some other nurse along with a loved one of yours comes up to me and states that the doctor just said I could give you some morphine for your pain....they feel bad for you, you are unable to speak,,,,,,,geeeee, what to do what to do.....now what EE did isn't life or death, but there are policies regs etc in place for a reason(some wrong and some right) regardless she swore to uphold those......duped?---nah, just thinking they are above the rest, in a nice way.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
CAn't agree with you Senders and GL. Your scenario is harsh. Goes more like this--you're running a food pantry and a man comes in and says he needs food for his family of eight. (it's just him and his girlfriend) The name is familiar but we can't place him. He's alone. We put him in the system because we think he is hungry. He gives us a power bill with a matching last name--even though we know HIS name is not Mary. We have no reason not to believe him but he has just lied about the size of his family and probably his ID. We say ok bring new ID next time. Yup we just violated the rules for someone who told us a story and someone whose name we knew--I know exactly what the law says about notary. Oh BTW, I used to be one about 25 years ago. Senders--Get off my back--stop treading on someone who extended compassion to a family. I hope some day you and GL won't need the caring help of someone who would be willing to bend a rule out of compassion not maliciousness. Of course that probably won't happen because you both suffer from righteous indignation.
NO ONE TOLD HER SHE WAS SIGNING FOR A DEAD PERSON. THE PEOPLE WHO PRESENTED THESE DOCOUMENTS PROBABLY GAVE HER AN EXCUSE WHY THE SENIOR COULDN'T BE IN TOWN HALL. EE FELL FOR IT.
Duped her?? You bet. I blame the family who took advantage of EE. Calm down Senders. Try some logical thinking.
the notary law says "in the presence of the notary" not "bring presents to the notary"
Talking to each other is better than talking about each other
if the application has NO medical data, is it is it covered by HIPAA? if the application has NO medical data, can a taxpayer FOIL it?
i am not disputing the the privacy of an application that has MEDICAL DATA.
My point is/was ... how were the ones with no data/signatures FOUND? Are they kept in two separate piles? No - someone had to see the ones WITH med data on them to cull this list.
if the application has NO medical data, is it is it covered by HIPAA? if the application has NO medical data, can a taxpayer FOIL it?
i am not disputing the the privacy of an application that has MEDICAL DATA.
After speaking with Bob Freeman yesterday, it is my understanding that the only information that has to be redacted with regard to handicap tag applications is the name and address of the recipient. Not the doctor whose signature is supposed to appear on the application, as it is not considered to be information that would identify the applicant. Once the approriate redactions are in place, the remaining information is public.
Nice work Gadfly. So who actually provided the documents requested in the FOIL? Did EE oversea what was released?
No one has provided anything. In fact, Town Attorney Mike Godlewski is refusing to even respond. He told me in a very roundabout waythat I should consider this a refusal and appeal. EE and Godlewski tried to bury the FOIL in the first place. The original request was denied...I had to fight for the written refusal they are obligated to provide...EE threatened to call the police when I would not leave without the refusal she told me she had two days earlier. I then resubmitted a more detailed request, citing NYS Retention Law and the storage locations (the original applications are stored in the vault and all application information is also recorded on computer files), as indicated by EE's former assistant, Sue Madia. Godlewski refused to give me the standard receipt for the request, which would normally have been stamped with the date and time...a copy of which you would normally receive at that point. I had to return earlier this week to FOIL for a copy of my own FOIL. Godlewski finally gave me a copy...but there was no date/time stamp...nothing to indicate that it was received by anyone, at any time, which was no surprise. I then had to negotiate a confirmation of receipt! Godlewski disappeared for a brief time, then returned with a "letter of acknowledgement" stating they had received the request of the date on the FOIL...intentionally eliminating the date it was actually received. I had to insist that he note the date of receipt on the letter and sign it himself. The request was submitted on 2/25 and he has been evading it ever since.
Logged
They've got infinitely more resources than us "armchair lawyers"
