Restoring CMIA’s Intended Balance

by Michael D. Abraham

California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), Civil Code section 56 et seq., carefully balances obligations to handle and dispose of medical information in a manner preserving confidentiality with patients’ CMIA rights of action for nominal or actual damages. Disruption of this balance has recently been threatened by multiple class action lawsuits seeking to dictate privacy procedures and recover millions or, in one case, billions, of dollars from health care providers in response to the theft or loss of electronic databases.  View a PDF of the article.