[Taltarzac725]

I would hope that it would be friends, family and the like contacting the police about their concerns about someone who is showing signs of wanting to injure him or herself and others. And using medical history to back it up. Of course, abuses would happen where someone with other motives would be turning to the police with their concerns about co-workers who beat them out of positions, jilted lovers getting revenge, neighbors with a beef of some kind, etc.

Originally Posted by njbchbum

What is your opinion re how HIPAA impacts the release of medical info re red flag laws or the potential sale of guns/ammo to citizens -

Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule | HHS.gov
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).

The Privacy Rule excludes from protected health information employment records that a covered entity maintains in its capacity as an employer and education and certain other records subject to, or defined in, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. §1232g.