US Justice Department drops case against Texas doctor charged with leaking transgender care data

2 years ago by HellsBelle to c/news

Federal prosecutors have dropped the case against a Texas doctor who called himself a whistleblower on transgender care for minors and was accused of illegally obtaining private information on patients who weren’t under his care.

The dismissal of the case against Dr. Eithan Haim in U.S. district court in Houston comes as the Trump administration in its first week has already issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights.

Prosecutors had said that Haim, a 34-year-old surgeon, took the information and shared it with a conservative activist with “intent to cause malicious harm” to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, one of the nation’s largest pediatric hospitals.

Haim works in the Dallas area but had previously worked at Texas Children’s Hospital as part of his residency. The indictment alleged that Haim asked to reactivate his login there and in 2023 began accessing information on pediatric patients not under his care and then turned it over to a media contact.

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Terces 143 points 2 years ago

If the patients hadn't been transgender, this would not have been dropped. It is illegal to share that data no matter what...

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FlyingSquid 51 points 2 years ago

Oh you missed the news about congress wanting to insert AI into the medical system, including diagnosis and dispensing medicine.

An AI does not have any sort of doctor-patient confidentiality.

So it won't just be trans people, it will be anyone who's health issues make them undesirable in the eyes of the government. For example, people who turn out to be part of a group genetically even if they don't look like it.

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halcyoncmdr 17 points 2 years ago

Ah yes... copying United Healthcare is exactly what the official government position should be. It's not like that has resulted in ANYTHING happening to the guy in charge.

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FlyingSquid 10 points 2 years ago

The UHC CEO didn't have trained government forces to protect him. Trump already has Secret Service protection and you can bet your ass that the first time anyone tries something like Luigi Mangione did, that protection will get far broader (to all of his administration if possible) and far stronger.

Because corporations are super powerful, but they don't have their own giant military and security forces like the U.S. government does.

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halcyoncmdr 10 points 2 years ago

I never mentioned Trump. There are plenty of other department heads and managers that will implement these things, they're just as culpable all the way down the line.

Besides, Trump's already had 1.5 attempts, and those show the Secret Service were/are utterly incompetent at active protection now. We saw what they could do, not prevent a sniper from taking multiple shots from a clear rooftop. And letting a guy sit in a bush at the edge of Mar-A-Lago for nearly 12 hours. Not exactly the best protection there, and that's what you get when the primary requirement is loyalty over anything else, the real professionals don't stick around.

Because corporations are super powerful, but they don't have their own giant military and security forces like the U.S. government does.

There are plenty of heavily armed private security/private military contractors for hire. Fuck, Boeing clearly has at least one hitman on retainer given their recent whistleblowers. You honestly think billionaires of all people would have any problem hiring whoever they wanted to? Hell, most of those companies hire directly from the military anyway, so they have the exact same training, but get paid way better in the private sector to give some fucks.

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primehunter326 1 point 2 years ago

They are pulling protection details from people like Fauci, career non-partisan government officials who’ve been branded enemies of the right. Besides the obvious, I’m sure part of the reason was to re-allocate those resources elsewhere.

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