California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined 15 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to limit a U.S. DOJ subpoena seeking medical records of transgender youth from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, arguing it violates patient privacy and could intimidate providers of gender-affirming care.
The amicus brief urges the court to quash or limit the U.S. DOJ subpoena to protect patient privacy and prevent intimidation of healthcare providers.
In-house legal teams should review all agreements involving the handling of sensitive health data, particularly vendor and data processing agreements with healthcare providers, research institutions, and cloud service providers. Focus on clauses governing data sharing, patient consent (especially for minors), government data requests/subpoenas, and compliance with HIPAA and state medical privacy laws. Contracts may need amendments to explicitly restrict disclosure of sensitive health information related to gender-affirming care without robust judicial oversight, require advance notification to the data subject/covered entity before complying with broad subpoenas, and incorporate stricter data minimization and security protocols for highly sensitive health records. Employee agreements with healthcare providers should also be reviewed for confidentiality provisions regarding patient care decisions.
Entity
U.S. Department of Justice
Also known as: Department of Justice
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-subpoenas-targeting-medical-records-transgender-youth-are
CHOP amicus brief
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/CHOP%20amicus%20brief.pdf
California Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-enforcement-actions
"U.S. Department of Justice’s (U.S. DOJ) subpoena"
"subpoenas targeting the medical records of transgender youth"
"sensitive medical records and personally identifying information about adolescent patients and their families"
"Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)"
"joining a coalition of 15 attorneys general"
"Joining Attorney General Bonta in submitting the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington."
California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief opposing the U.S. Department of Justice's subpoena for patient records from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center related to gender-affirming care. The brief argues that the subpoena violates patient privacy, infringes on states' rights to regulate medicine, and exceeds DOJ's statutory authority.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to quash a U.S. DOJ administrative subpoena seeking sensitive medical records and personally identifying information of adolescent patients receiving gender-affirming care at Children's Hospital Colorado. The brief argues the subpoena violates states' rights to regulate medicine under the Tenth Amendment and misinterprets the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which would harm off-label drug use across all medical fields.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by attorneys general from seven other states, filed a lawsuit to block the $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by reducing competition in local TV markets, leading to higher prices, less local news, and job losses.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to block the expansion of IPEDS data collection requiring colleges to submit race-linked student data. The lawsuit argues the demand is arbitrary, capricious, and burdensome, and could enable costly partisan investigations. A multistate coalition co-led the challenge.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of state attorneys general announced they will continue their antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster after the U.S. Department of Justice settled the case. The states aim to hold Live Nation accountable for anticompetitive conduct that harms consumers, artists, and venues in the live music industry.
$376K
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) settled with Ford Motor Company requiring the company to pay a $375,703 fine and change its practices. Ford violated the CCPA by requiring consumers to complete an email verification step before they could opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information collected through digital properties and connected vehicle services. In addition to the fine, Ford must provide easy methods to submit opt-out requests with minimal steps, audit its tracking technologies, and ensure compliance with opt-out preference signals including Global Privacy Control.