It's that time of year again! Football season. And I am alive with anticipation for another NE Patriots Super Bowl win. Plus college ball. BC beat Wake Forest, Appalachian State beat Michigan. What? Yes. Blue fell to AS in a shocker to go down in the books as one of the biggest upsets in college football.
Despite all of this excitement, it has been a sullen Labor Day weekend. Virginia Tech opened the season with a sobering ceremony to remember the 32 students killed and 17 injured this past April by their fellow student, Seung Hui Cho.
The most recent discussions about this tragedy center on how this massacre may have been avoided had the Virginia Tech staff had access to Cho's mental health records and information regarding his previous behavior patterns.
Hindsight's 20/20, but we all know why this information was not shared: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Virginia Tech did not have information about Cho that could have allowed them to help or assist in the treatment of his illness. Instead, they had no idea that a homicidal maniac lived among the student body. Governor Tim Kaine appointed a review panel that found:
· Cho exhibited signs of mental health problems during his childhood. His middle and high schools responded well to these signs and, with his parents' involvement, provided services to address his issues. He also received private psychiatric treatment and counseling for selective mutism and depression.
· In 1999, after the Columbine shootings, Cho’s middle school teachers observed suicidal and homicidal ideations in his writings and recommended psychiatric counseling, which he received. It was at this point that he received medication for a short time.
· During Cho's junior year at Virginia Tech, numerous incidents occurred that were clear warnings of mental instability. Although various individuals and departments within the university knew about each of these incidents, the university did not intervene effectively. No one knew all the information and no one connected all the dots.
· University officials in the office of Judicial Affairs, Cook Counseling Center, campus police, the Dean of Students, and others explained their failures to communicate with one another or with Cho’s parents by noting their belief that such communications are prohibited by the federal laws governing the privacy of health and education records. In reality, federal laws and their state counterparts afford ample leeway to share information in potentially dangerous situations.
· There is widespread confusion about what federal and state privacy laws allow. Also, the federal laws governing records of healthcare provided in educational settings are not entirely compatible with those governing other health records.
Were Virginia Tech administrators truly confused by what is legal and what is not, or is HIPAA a convenient scapegoat?
With that said, HIPAA and FERPA may well be examples of doing more harm than good. Health and Human Services must make the effort to provide enough guidance so that we are not hamstrung by a system of well-intentioned laws that may endanger the public at large in the name of protecting the privacy of the individual.
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