Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule address when a person may not be the appropriate person to control an individual's protected health information?

Answer

Generally, no. The Rule defers to State and other laws that address the fitness of a person to act on an individual’s behalf. However, a covered entity does not have to treat a personal representative as the individual when it reasonably believes, in the exercise of professional judgment, the individual is subject to domestic violence, abuse or neglect by the personal representative, or doing so would otherwise endanger the individual.

Date Created: 12/19/2002