[ExI] puzzling

[spike at rainier66.com]

> On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat
Subject: Re: [ExI] puzzling

 

>…Hey Spike et alii - did you see the article on Estonia and how interconnected they are?  Any doctor can view your medical records, with your permission I am assuming, so if you have to go to the emergency they can know all about your medical history.  Now if that were required, we'd have privacy rights trouble with it, no?

 

bill w

 

Hi BillW, no trouble at all: requiring such a system isn’t allowed in the US.  Medical records are covered under 4th amendment privacy rights.  We yanks have the option of having our medical records completely accessible of course, and I can see the wisdom of doing that.

 

As far as legal infrastructure to this, the AIDS pandemic of the 80s brought a lot of this into the open.  In 1988 diver Greg Louganis conked his head on the diving platform and bled into the pool.  He didn’t tell anyone he had been diagnosed with HIV.  

 

The huge debate was over whether Louganis had a moral and ethical obligation to tell the officials: in my opinion he did.  But did he have a legal obligation?  No.  The 1988 games were in Seoul South Korea, which has nothing analogous to our 4th amendment rights, but he is a US citizen, so… no.

 

Regarding the notion of having some kind of universally-accessible medical records, consider that one might be taken to the ER unable to tell the doctors anything (how well I get that (I was, back in December (all is well now (apparently it wasn’t covid.))))  It would have big advantages if the medics could get to the records quickly.  In my case they did.  I made it thru the front door, sat in the nearest wheelchair.  Someone came up to me and said “Are you Mr. Jones?”  I said: “I am, and I have insurance bigtime.”  They took it from there.  Computers are great.  Love em.  I don’t have an embedded computer ID chip (are those approved for humans?)

 

spike

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