DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS on the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) medical record "invasion" regulations extended to FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2001!

Please write immediately. Managing (limiting) your access to health care services according to your lifestyle, age, productivity, values, political leanings, functional status, religious beliefs, and societal "worth" cannot happen if government officials---and their HMO collaborators---are forced to acquire your consent prior to accessing your medical, psychological, and demographic data. As it stands now, these regulations will allow others to access your medical records to begin building a comprehensive medical, social, and psychological file (under one patient ID number) that can be used against you, pitting your medical needs against "limited resources" and the presumed needs of the entire population---or society.

MAKE YOUR ELECTRONIC COMMENTS: 
   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

MAIL WRITTEN COMMENTS: 
     (1 original and, if possible, a floppy disk) to the following address:  

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
Attention: Privacy I, Room 801 
Hubert H. Humphrey Building 
200 Independence Avenue, SW. 
Washington, DC 20201.

DELIVER WRITTEN COMMENTS: 
     (1 original and, if possible, a floppy disk) to: 

Room 801 
200 Independence Avenue, SW. 
Washington, DC 20201.

WRITE NOW WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO STAY OFF GOVERNMENT DATABASES, UNMONITORED BY PUBLIC HEALTH SURVEILLANCE, AND FREE FROM SOCIETAL "WORTH" ASSESSMENTS BASED ON DETAILED PATIENT AND FAMILY PROFILES.