Florida Court Erases Order to Disclose Names of HIV Patients

An appeals court in Miami erased a court order Wednesday requiring a doctor to reveal the names and addresses of patients who received prescription drugs for HIV through his pharmacy. The 3rd District Court of Appeal decided Florida state laws protecting patient privacy rights and HIV confidentiality do not allow for the release of patient information as ordered by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Chavies. "The only way to protect the confidentiality of the patients is to protect their identities," the three-judge panel wrote. "The trial court ignored the essential requirements of the law."

Donna Weston, who represents Dr. Mark Sachs, said, "This opinion really stands for the proposition that patients' names by their nature are privileged." She estimated 80 percent of Sachs' patients are HIV-positive. Sachs and his Immunecare pharmacy are being sued by Innovative Healthcare Inc., a drug wholesaler, which claims the pharmacy didn't pay its bills in full and defamed the company. In Florida, HIV patient registries and the names of people who get HIV tests are legally confidential.

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