Wisconsin Attorney General: State Law Tops HIPAA

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Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen told the state’s fire departments they cannot use the federal HIPAA law as a basis for withholding basic information from the public on ambulance calls. The AG’s opinion follows the refusal of the Waukesah Fire Department to release information to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on its call to treat a mail carrier who crashed a government vehicle into assign while allegedly drunk. The opinion said that state law requiring certain ambulance records be public prevailed over HIPAA. (10/1/07)