<a href="http://www.rcfp.org/hipaa/">A Reporter's Guide to Medical Privacy Law</a>

Since stringent medical privacy regulations went into effect in 2003, the media have been forced to learn the new rules, work around them in some cases, and in others battle them in court.

Yet the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's privacy rule remains a prickly issue for reporters, hampering routine reporting assignments and big investigative pieces.