Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following : Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Jeff Bergosh, Republican, for Escambia County Commissioner District 1








Friday, November 7, 2008

Public Records Law Vs. Employee Right to Medical Record Privacy

I like some aspects of the Florida Public Records Laws, but I dislike others. Sometimes, boundaries need to be established. Recently a citizen in central Florida won a legal battle with a local school board which now is mushrooming into a major statewide issue.

This individual wanted names and addresses of all employees, family members, and dependents that receive medical benefits from the local school district. The district balked, asking what the information would be used for/why it was being requested.

This spurred a showdown which the individual requesting the records recently won in court. Now that he has won the battle locally, this individual has requested the same information from all 67 Florida school districts statewide--just to put an exclamation point on his victory.

And oh, by the way, this "individual" is also allegedly a medical field marketing consultant.

I have some concerns about open records laws as it pertains to this issue/purpose....

Full article on the subject is here:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20081031/NEWS/810310360/1410?Title=Man_Wins_Fight_for_Public_Records

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Political Advertisement Paid For and Approved by Jeff Bergosh, Republican for Escambia Commission D1