Hypocrite Watch

Will any of the wingnuts offended to the brink of hysteria by the the Palm Beach State's Attorney's subpoena of Big Pharma's medical records raise a peep about this?

A move by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to subpoena the medical records of 40 patients who received so-called partial-birth abortions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago was halted -- at least temporarily -- when a Chicago federal judge quashed the information request.

The ruling is the first in a series of subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department seeking the medical records of patients from seven physicians and at least five hospitals, Crain's sister publication Modern Healthcare has learned. Besides Northwestern, Mr. Ashcroft is seeking patient records from University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in Ann Arbor; Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp.; Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital both of which are part of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System; and an unidentified San Francisco-area hospital.

Of course, unlike in Big Pharma's case, there's no probable cause to believe that any these patients were involved in a crime.

This should be front-page news, not buried in a regional business publication. And if the Cyst-kissing hypocrites address this abuse at all, it will be to praise the Crisco Kid and deny the existence of a right to privacy. Kudos to District Judge Charles Kocoras for protecting these patients' rights!

(Link via TAPped -- Pass it on!)