Reply #150: this is all about patients' rights... [View All]

[Bugaboo]

I read the entire article and the reason her daughter made it through the background check is that Texas will not provide mental health records to the feds because of privacy. This is entirely appropriate and protects the privacy of those who receive treatment for mental illness. It would have been entirely inappropriateand a violation of privacy for Walmart to check the daughter's prescription records, or anyone else's for that matter.

This is a case of a parent in pain. It highlights the devestation mental illness brings to families and communities. But no matter the outcome, her daughter had the right not to have the world prying into her health records, even for her own protection, and even if it meant her mother lost her. This is a huge part of protecting the rights of people with mental illness.