title: The End of the HIPAA Privacy Rule? Currents in Contemporary Bioethics.
abstract: The HIPAA Privacy Rule is notoriously weak because of its incomplete coverage, numerous exclusions and exemptions, and limited rights for individuals. The three areas in which it provides the most protection are fundraising, marketing, and research. Provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, pending in Congress, and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the federal research regulations (Common Rule), awaiting final regulatory action, would weaken the privacy protections for research. If these measures are adopted, the HIPAA Privacy Rule would have so little value that it might not be worth the aggravation and burden.
authors.affiliation: Mark A. Rothstein serves as the section editor for Currents in Contemporary Bioethics. Professor Rothstein is the Herbert F. Boehl Chair of Law and Medicine and the Director of the Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky. (mark.rothstein@louisville.edu).
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rothstein
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D003219:Confidentiality; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; D006801:Humans; D018907:Privacy; D014481:United States