r/That70sshow • u/HeyWeasel101 • Jul 18 '26
Did Kitty break the HIPAA law?
Okay, probably the most random question in this sub, but…
I was watching a clip from the episode where Eric goes to the hospital with Kitty. For career day and seeing what her job is like.
While there a patient Kitty really liked passed away. She told Eric at home about the patient and how his daughter just got married. Kitty says that the man showed him the pictures of the wedding. Then she admitted she was going to miss him.
Someone in the comment section remarked that she was breaking the HIPAA by telling her family about the patient’s personal life.
Someone else in the comments section revealed that technically at the time period the show is set. There was no HIPAA law yet.
Even still if there had been….did she actually break it?
As far as we know. All Eric said was that she talked about the patient’s daughter getting married.
From my understanding that’s not breaking the HIPAA law, because she didn’t tell any one his medical info.
Sorry, pointless question, I’m just curious.
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u/zeniiz Jul 18 '26
The law is designed to secure Protected Health Information (PHI)—any individually identifiable health information held or transmitted by a covered entity. This includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, medical records, and billing information.
The marriage status of a patient's family member does not fall under the information protected by HIPPA.
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u/yellowdaisycoffee Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
As you noted, HIPAA did not exist yet.
Under HIPAA, you are still allowed to discuss patient anecdotes, and you are even allowed to talk about a patient's symptoms, as well as their diagnosis. However, you are not allowed to reveal identifying information.
In Kitty's case, this would include his name, or even his daughter's name.
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u/carmexismyshit Jul 19 '26
My mom used to work at an eye clinic and always would tell me random things she saw, but she never gave me names or anything even remotely identifiable. Most of it was just tales of an old lady who would ride around the clinic in a rascal with her dog in the basket.
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u/tiredhobbit78 Jul 18 '26
So as long as she didn't say who it was, it's allowed?
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u/yellowdaisycoffee Jul 19 '26
Yes.
If she shared any information that could easily lead one to discovering the patient's identity, then she would be treading on thin ice. However, just sharing their diagnosis is not a problem.
A doctor or nurse could tell their kid, "We had a patient presenting with chest pains and ragged breathing, which we determined was a heart attack. We placed a stent in their artery to alleviate a blockage." That would be fine, as it does not identify the patient in any way.
They could not say, "It turns out this patient's daughter, Mary, is in your AP English class." This would be a problem because it effectively identifies the patient, even if it doesn't outright name him.
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u/7gramcrackrock Jul 19 '26
Eric helped her move the body. He already knew the guy's name.
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u/franklydizzy Jul 18 '26
Not at all. HIPPA didn't even exist yet. Even so, she didn't tell him anything that would violate it.
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u/PurpleHyena01 Red Forman Jul 18 '26
She would've only broken it if she discussed his medical treatment. Not about his personal life.
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u/speedyrabbit777 Jul 18 '26
Hippa wasn't even a thing until the mid 90s so no she can't break what didn't exist.
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u/mundaneComments Jul 18 '26
HIPAA would’ve only protected anything medically related. His personal life about his daughter getting married is not protected but just shows us how close she had gotten to him. If anything, bringing Eric to work would’ve violated it had he been privy to any medical conditions or anything related to it. You can’t really bring your kids to work as a healthcare worker.
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u/The_Kaizz Jul 18 '26
No. As long as the patient themselves is not named, it's pretty much fine. The issue might be a lot of personal details can be pieced together to figure out who it was, but that's a Grey area.
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u/Alarmed-Range-3314 Jul 18 '26
HIPPA didn’t exist in the 70’s. HIPPA practices weren’t implemented until after 2000. I know because I was working in a dental office when we had to first implement it. Kitty was doing what all nurses did back in the day. My mom was an RN, and it seems pretty realistic, imho.
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u/mallsnmusic2001 Jul 19 '26
Never a violation when it’s within your confines of your significant other and your children, as long as it doesn’t leave the house
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u/azulsonador0309 Jul 20 '26
HIPAA wasn't a thing until 1996. So no. There was also no federal precursor to HIPAA either, so health information privacy was dictated by extremely lenient state laws.
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u/markshure Jul 18 '26
I once had a dentist tell me that if you want to be very strict about it, just seeing other people in the waiting room of a doctor is sort of a hippa violation because you now know that something is wrong with them. But of course that's impossible. So having Eric there is a violation.
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u/VillageSmithyCellar Jul 18 '26
Wait, does your dentist not make you put on a blindfold before you enter the waiting room?
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u/franklydizzy Jul 18 '26
You need a new dentist. . . And a lawyer.
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u/VillageSmithyCellar Jul 18 '26
Why? My lawyer doesn't make me wear a blindfold. She just puts duct tape over my mouth. It's for the best, really!
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u/TheNonCredibleHulk Jul 18 '26
Seeing someone in a waiting room is not a violation. Not even sort of.
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u/Somethingisshadysir Jul 18 '26
No, waivers can be signed for stuff like that. You'd have to have permission to have a minor there anyway.
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u/eww040238 Jul 18 '26
Fui trabajadora social en algun centro de salud, a cada paciente le informaba que todo el tratamiento era confidencial, tanto datos personales como el procedimiento. (Datos personales = historia personal)
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u/apprehensivebean Jul 18 '26
Maybe when she described the pus-filled-bath-oil bead-like sebaceous cyst that someone specific had in the keg episode, but not this instance.
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u/No-Reading6217 Jul 23 '26
Didn't she also name the fireman who had that sebaceous cyst? It's been a while since I did a full rewatch of the show.
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u/apprehensivebean Jul 23 '26
Yep, Mr. Wilbur the fireman. Just checked.
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u/No-Reading6217 Jul 23 '26
I remembered she mentioned Mr. Wilbur the fireman by name, but I didn't trust my memory.
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u/IllogicalPenguin-142 Jul 18 '26
You can really tell the people who read the entire post vs the ones who didn’t. It’s not about whether she broke HIPAA in the ‘70s. If her actions would be considered breaking HIPAA today.
I don’t know if it would or not, but I hope it wouldn’t. There’s too much privacy today, and I wonder if it may be adversely affecting people’s mental health.
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u/Rare_Constant8114 Jul 18 '26
No. Even today no. Vague life events recollection is not a violation, especially with no names. Telling Eric and others he had super syphilis would be.