AL GORE: Vows to Shield Medical Data from Profit-Mongers

      Vice President Al Gore addressed the medical privacy issue at a campaign stop in Los Angeles yesterday, pledging to prohibit insurance and drug companies from selling patient medical records, USA Today reports. "It's wrong for the insurance companies and the drug companies to sell your medical information -- putting profits ahead of people," Gore told a crowd at a work training center for adults with mental disabilities, adding, "You have a fundamental right to privacy, and no powerful interest should be allowed to sell it or take it away" (Vanden Brook, 9/20). This week, Gore has repeatedly attacked the health care industry, continuing his "populist" quest "as the champion of consumers and foe of corporate giants." He said yesterday, "I will take on the powerful forces whenever necessary. I promise to be a fighter for the people, not the powerful" (Glover, AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 9/20).

Tainted Privacy Record?
      While Gore trumpeted the need for patient privacy yesterday, rival Texas Gov. George W. Bush's campaign warned that "[u]nder Al Gore's watch, sensitive medical records of millions of seniors were left unprotected," citing a Sept. 6 General Accounting Office report. The GAO study of 24 federal agencies, including HCFA, found that the Clinton-Gore administration had "serious weaknesses" in the protection of sensitive medical records. "How can we expect Al Gore to enact and enforce new privacy laws when his administration can't even enforce the laws currently on the books?" Bush spokesperson Dan Bartlett asked (Bush release, 9/19). According to Gore campaign officials, however, the Bush camp "distort[ed] the truth" by "selectively us[ing] information" from the report. The "[s]ame GAO report shows that Gore and the [a]dministration have been working to strengthen and improve privacy protections ... [and] how HCFA and HHS are moving aggressively to protect medical privacy," they argued (Gore release, 9/19).