title: Public Figures, Professional Ethics, and the Media.
abstract: Death certificates and autopsy reports contain personal identifying information and clinical information protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. These documents are used, for example, by the families of the deceased for settling estates, bereavement and closure, and genetic counseling of relatives. Insurance companies, public health and law enforcement officials, and the legal community also have legitimate claims to this information. Critical ethical questions have not yet been settled about whether and when this information should be public and under which circumstances making this kind of information public incurs benefits, harms, or both. Additional considerations include which organizations-the media, academic institutions, or government agencies, for example-are best suited to interpret these questions and respond to them.
authors.affiliation: Chief medical examiner for the state of Maryland in Baltimore and president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, and is a fellow of the College of American Pathologists, an associate professor at the University of Maryland in the departments of pediatrics and pathology, and on the faculty at the National Study Center for Trauma and Emergency Medical Systems and at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Fowler
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D001344:Autopsy; D003219:Confidentiality; D003644:Death Certificates; D004995:Ethics, Professional; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D018907:Privacy; D014481:United States