New ABA Rules on AI and Ethics Shows the Technology Is 'New Wine in Old Bottles'; The Law Journal Editorial Board via Law.com, August 16, 2024

The Law Journal Editorial Board via Law.com; New ABA Rules on AI and Ethics Shows the Technology Is 'New Wine in Old Bottles'

On July 29, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 512 on generative artificial intelligence tools. The opinion follows on such opinions and guidance from several state bar associations, as well as similar efforts by non-U.S. bars and regulatory bodies around the world...

Focused on GAI, the opinion addresses six core principles: competence, confidentiality, communication, meritorious claims and candor to tribunal, supervision and fees...

What is not commonly understood, perhaps, is that GAI “hallucinates,” and generates content...

Not addressed in the opinion is whether GAI is engaged in the practice of law...

At the ABA annual meeting, representatives of more than 20 “foreign” bars participated in a roundtable on GAI. In a world of cross-border practice, there was a desire for harmonization."

COVID-19 Fatigue? Don’t Let Your Ethics Guard Down; Esquire, July 28, 2020

Esquire; COVID-19 Fatigue? Don’t Let Your Ethics Guard Down

"But now is not the time to give in or to cut corners professionally. No, now is the time for a quick run-through of a lawyer’s ethical obligations to clients during these challenging times.

The legal profession’s ethical rules do not contain exceptions for pandemics."

Ethical practice in isolation, quarantine & contact tracing; American Medical Association (AMA), April 28, 2020

American Medical Association (AMA); Ethical practice in isolation, quarantine & contact tracing

"Contact tracing and isolation or quarantine of sick or exposed individuals are among the most effective tools to reduce transmission of infectious disease. Yet like many public health activities it raises concerns about appropriately balancing individual rights, notably privacy and confidentiality, with protecting the health of the community. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics provides guidance to help physicians strike this balance when they act in a public health capacity. 

Opinion 8.11, “Health promotion and preventive care,” provides that “physicians who work solely or primarily in a public health capacity should uphold accepted standards of medical professionalism by implementing policies that appropriately balance individual liberties with the social goals of public health policies.” That includes notifying public health authorities when physicians “notice patterns in patient health that may indicate a health risk for others.”

In keeping with Opinion 8.4, “Ethical use of quarantine & isolation,” physicians should also educate patients and the public about public health threats, potential harm to others and the benefits of quarantine and isolation, and should encourage voluntary adherence. Physicians should support mandatory measures when patients fail to adhere voluntarily."

HHS Seeks Feedback Regarding HIPAA Rules; Lexology, December 18, 2018

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP - Rosina Caponi, Lexology; HHS Seeks Feedback Regarding HIPAA Rules

[Kip Currier:  Forward this article to anyone interested in providing comments about potential changes to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Rules.

Public comments are due by February 11, 2019.]

"On Dec. 12, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Request for Information seeking input from the public on how the HIPAA Rules could be modified to further HHS’s goal of promoting coordinated, value-based healthcare...

Public comments regarding this request are due to OCR by Feb. 11, 2019. The request can be downloaded from the Federal Register here."

Oscars Mistake Casts Unwanted Spotlight on PwC; New York Times, February 27, 2017

David Gelles and Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times; 

Oscars Mistake Casts Unwanted Spotlight on PwC

"One video posted there, introducing Mr. Cullinan and Ms. Ruiz, began with the line, “The reason we were even first asked to take on this role was because of the reputation PwC has in the marketplace for being a firm of integrity, of accuracy and confidentiality.” It went on to note that the relationship was “symbolic of how we’re thought of beyond this role and how our clients think of us.”

But how clients think of PwC may change.

Mr. Gilman, the crisis communications specialist, said he was curious to see if PwC kept the Oscars contract. “They have branded themselves around this event saying, ‘We’re trusted’ — that’s the implication. Now I think that will take a hit.”"

Beware of imported contacts, social media statements on legal issues, ethics opinion says; ABA Journal, 11/21/16

Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal; Beware of imported contacts, social media statements on legal issues, ethics opinion says:

"The ethics committee of the District of Columbia Bar is advising lawyers about some social media dangers in two ethics opinions released this month...

One “apparently novel warning” is about lawyers who take positions on legal issues when blogging or tweeting, according to the ABA BNA Lawyer’s Manual. The ethics opinion says a lawyer’s positions on social media could be adverse to the interest of a client, inadvertently creating a conflict...

Another new topic addressed is about the danger of allowing social media websites such as LinkedIn to access email contacts."

Pittsburgh City Council pushes forward on confidentiality measure; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/3/16

Adam Smeltz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pittsburgh City Council pushes forward on confidentiality measure:

"Pittsburgh City Council forged ahead Wednesday with plans that could cost members triple-digit fines for leaking confidential details from closed-door meetings.

Council members voted 7-1 to advance comprehensive revisions for their own operating rules, setting up the 15-page proposal for a final vote Monday. Dissenting Councilwoman Darlene Harris lashed out against potential fines that could reach $500 for members who breach attorney-client privilege, saying the idea amounts to “a gag order.”"

Would You Want To Know The Secrets Hidden In Your Baby's Genes?; NPR, 10/31/16

[Podcast] Mary Harris, NPR; Would You Want To Know The Secrets Hidden In Your Baby's Genes? :

"Lauren and Ian Patrick, the parents of baby Finn, are a good case study.

Initially, they were convinced they wanted the screening. But after an hour talking to a genetic counselor about all the ways this sequencing could go wrong, they decided against it.

They learned that any genetic sequencing would go in their son's medical record, and it wouldn't be able to be removed. And while federal law prohibits genetic discrimination by health care providers and in the workplace, life insurers can still use genetic information to pick and choose whom they'll sell policies to. By the time the meeting was over, the Patricks' excitement had been replaced with concern."

Making the Most of Clinical Trial Data; New York Times, 4/12/16

Editorial Board, New York Times; Making the Most of Clinical Trial Data:

"Some researchers may oppose sharing data they have worked hard to gather, or worry that others will analyze it incorrectly. Creating opportunities for collaboration on subsequent analysis may help alleviate these concerns.

Of course, any data sharing must take patients’ privacy into account; patients must be informed before joining a clinical trial that their data may be shared and researchers must ensure that the data cannot be used to identify individuals.

By making data available and supporting analysis, foundations, research institutions and drug companies can increase the benefit of clinical trials and pave the way for new findings that could help patients."

Give Up Your Data to Cure Disease; New York Times, 2/6/16

David B. Agus, New York Times; Give Up Your Data to Cure Disease:

"HOW far would you go to protect your health records? Your privacy matters, of course, but consider this: Mass data can inform medicine like nothing else and save countless lives, including, perhaps, your own.

Over the past several years, using some $30 billion in federal stimulus money, doctors and hospitals have been installing electronic health record systems. More than 80 percent of office-based doctors, including me, use some form of E.H.R. These systems are supposed to make things better by giving people easier access to their medical information and avoiding the duplication of tests and potentially fatal errors.

Yet neither doctors nor patients are happy. Doctors complain about the time it takes to update digital records, while patients worry about confidentiality. Last month the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons went so far as to warn that E.H.R.s could “crash” the medical system.

We need to get over it. These digital databases offer an incredible opportunity to examine trends that will fundamentally change how doctors treat patients. They will help develop cures, discover new uses for drugs and better track the spread of scary new illnesses like the Zika virus."

Librarians in uproar after borrowing record of Haruki Murakami is leaked; Guardian, 12/1/15

Justin McCurry, Guardian; Librarians in uproar after borrowing record of Haruki Murakami is leaked:

"Librarians in Japan have ditched their traditional regard for silence to accuse a newspaper of violating the privacy of Haruki Murakami, Japan’s best-known contemporary writer, after it revealed his teenage reading habits...

The Kobe Shimbun revealed Murakami’s reading habits of half a century ago after obtaining the cards from the school’s library that carried borrower entries under the author’s name, Japanese media reported.

The newspaper defended its actions, but the Japan Librarian Association accused it of violating the privacy of Murakami and other students whose names appear on the cards.

“Disclosing the records of what books were read by a user, without the individual’s consent, violates the person’s privacy,” said an association report."