Disclosure

[joreth]

I realize that some people have jobs or kids that can be affected by full disclosure of certain types of information, and I also am aware that some people have been dropped by their insurance companies because they developed (or discovered) a particular medical condition.

But when neither of those consequences applies to me because I do not have medical insurance to begin with, nor do I have kids, nor do I have an "employer", I fail to see why I should be concerned about my medical information getting "stolen". What is someone going to do with the information that I once had mono as a kid? Or that I'm prone to strep throat? Or that I regularly get tested for STDs? I disclose all that stuff here all the time. In fact, just a couple of posts down I spent a whole post just talking about my sleep disorders.

Someone suggested I might have some embarrassing condition that I don't want the general public to know.  That person obviously has never read my journal.  And so what if I did?  If the practical concerns of job loss, kid loss, and money loss don't apply, what's the worst that could happen to me if someone should learn about my condition?  I'll feel embarassed?  Really?  That's the worst thing?  That's a big enough concern to not take advantage of organizational technology that makes it easier to gather all my important data into one accessible location, to share that information with people who need access to it, and to contribute to the trend of eventually limiting or eliminating the ENORMOUS wasteful process of paper record-keeping?  My embarassment is really worth sacrificing all that?

I think people are overly concerned about privacy. Yes, I already mentioned above several circumstances to be concerned - I'm not saying there's NEVER a reason to be concerned about privacy. I just think it's sometimes taken too far. No one has been able to give me a reason yet why I should zealously guard my medical stats. As I said, any legitimate concern I've heard so far doesn't apply to my specific circumstances and no one has been able to offer me any other reasons.

In a Twitter debate on the subject, when I pointed out that I already AM open about my status, someone responded with "And remember there's a difference between info you have explicitly picked to reveal vs. all the information that your complete medical record would have in it."

So, here ya go, here's my complete* medical records.  Here's hoping I don't lose my insurance (oh wait, I've been unisured for 8 years) or my kids (oh wait, I'm child-free by choice), or my job (oh wait, I'm already out of work and I'm an independent contractor when I do work), or possibly reveal something personal and embarassing on the internet (oh wait I forgot about my journal and website and all those neked pics of me on tacit's website).

Age, sex, height... 32 years old Female 120 pounds 5 feet 5 inches 20.0 body mass index (BMI)

Conditions Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrom Intermittent Explosive Disorder Night Terrors More info » Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Syndrome Sleep Paralysis

Medications Ibuprofen - 200 mg

Allergies Codeine - Mild OxyContin - Mild Vicodin - Mild

Procedures       Abortion LASIK

Test results Chlamydia Sp DNA - Urine - tested negative on 6/9/09 Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen - Serum - tested negative 2/9/09 Herpes Simplex Virus DNA - Blood - tested negative on 6/6/06 high risk HPV DNA Test - tested negative 1/22/09 HIV Test - tested negative on 6/9/09 Neisseria Gonorrhoeae DNA - Cervical Mucus - tested negative on 6/9/09 Pap Smear - tested slightly abnormal on 1/19/09 Syphilis Test (RPR) - Serum - Tested negative on 6/0/09

Immunizations Hepatitis B Vaccine, Adult

*By "complete", I mean everything I can remember so far and everything that is listed in my Google Health account, which is the subject of the debate in the first place, as a digital forum that I should be afraid of trusting my sensitive medical information to