Regarding the latest school shooting...?

Question

Do you feel that medical records should be exposed for mental instability if in fact a teen is deemed "mentally unstable" by a doctor or that the Dr. should alert the school to "keep an eye" on any unusual behavior or what? And, how does this relate if the individual is in H.S. and about to turn 18? Any provoking thoughts on these issues? Serious & thoughtful responses please.

I'm very aware of the HIPPA act, I have worked in several medical related areas and offices having access to patient info. I was asking because Dr. Phil had some guests on his show today (Friday 10-12) who he was asking their opinions on this. That's why I posed it here.

Answer 1

This is a very controversial area because not only is the patient/doctor privilege involved, as to public viewing of the documents, but also to the detrimental effect it could have on the patient viewing the reports.

In the Workers Compensation arena, it is necessary to submit a specific Health Insurance Portability and Accountabnility Act of 1996 (HIPAA) form, signed by the applicant/patient, in order to obtain specific records in regards to mental health and drug rehabilitation.

This information cannot be used for other than litigation purposes; and certain diagnostic testing and reports cannot even be shared with the applicant/patient.

It is possible that in the patient viewing the medical reports; the outcome of the testing, along with the doctor's discussion/analysis could cause further harm to the patient's psyche.

Thus, in no way should medical records concerning mental health issues should be allowed to be open or available to the public for viewing or sharing.

I believe that other than suspicion of potentially dangerous behavior, such as harm to others or to himself; or disclosure by the patient that he intends to commit a criminal act; it is not up to the doctor to warn school officials, but up to the parents of the child who has mental health issues.

The parents of the child are the people who should speak with the principal and the child's teachers, UNDER STRICT CONFIDENTIALITY (sorry so loud; this must be stressed), concerning the child's mental health issues.

Even when the minor turns 18 years old, this confidentiality cannot be breached, absent exigent circumstances.

Answer 2

School shootings arent exactly a result of mental instability, they are more a result of the failure of the educational system to control the social environment within the school, yes the person has to reach a state of mental instability before they will commit such a crime, but the real warning signals are seen when kids are singled out an ridiculed by their peers.

Edit, I say this with up close and personal experience, Pearl HS is right down the interstate from me and I know many people that went to that school and some that even knew Luke Woodham. Children are not like adults, just as they cannot make important descisions like when to drink and if they have to listen to their parents, they also cannot create their own society, many school teachers and principles let them manage their social interactions too much as long as they follow the few rules they have, as a child, there is no way to alleviate the problem of the social problems of the school environment, you cannot talk to the teachers, they wont do anything, you cannot beat the **** our of people because then you are punished. the only cure for this problem is for the school system to show more compassion to the students that are having problems with their peers and to not take bullying and hatred lightly.

Answer 3

This is brought up during just about every school shooting since most have mental problems.
It's a good question, but there are VERY strict federal laws in place to protect a person's medical condition.
The serious flaw in treating people with mental problems is that there is no way to make the person stay on the meds. If they are on a mental hold, once the meds start to work and the person isn't violent the doctor has to pretty much release the person since they aren't violent anymore.

Why do we designate the responsibility of taking medication to the person with the mental problem who does not think they need it in the first place?

Answer 4

Well, they also reached the conclusion that there is no real way to tell if a teen will become a shooter. Because most teens do seem all down and out at various times anyway, but it doesnt mean they're all killers. So the bottom line was that kids should tell adults when other kids start talking about stuff like killing people.

Answer 5

You are completely correct if he was a true Christian he would not have done that. If he was a Chrisna or a Mormon, a catholic Lutheran he also would not have done that. If he was a well adjusted person he wouldn’t have done that. If he would have had a car accident on the way to the mall and the gun went off and shot him he wouldn’t have done it. If a meteor 14 miles wide came flying at him through the atmosphere while desinigrating to the size of a dime and struck him in the head at 250mph it would not have happened.

Answer 6

What?

Medical information is private. Period. We don't need a culture of public persecution and lynching just because a few people may die otherwise. If this were the case, half the people in the country would be institutionalized. What makes you think Doctors know everything? There is nobody to blame here but the shooter. They were old enough to know better. There is such a thing as mental illness that is intangible to the medical community. You are never going to have a solution for it.

Answer 7

First, I wonder why there seems to be an increase in mental illness? I was bullied and it's quite painful. As far as I know, I'm not mentally ill. :) I still don't think bullying is taken seriously. Obviously, these people that make these decisions were never really bullied. It's a feeling that never goes away. I wish the students that did the bullying were punished severely. There shouldn't be any bullying. These bullies rob students of so much. I kept quiet in high school to avoid bullying because it was so painful. I saw high school as an opportunity to begin again because we were merging with another town. There would be more new faces. But as a result, I lost out because I wanted to be more involved. But I couldn't handle the pain. I'm still living with it. What these bullied kids have done is terrible but it's almost not as bad as what bullying does to kids. It's like being in a prison for life. There almost isn't peace or happiness. It haunts.
It seems enough people knew this kid was troubled but his parents didn't do anything but buy him guns. ??? The teachers didn't seem to make enough of an effort to stop the bullying or to reach out to this student. Every single person has the opportunity to make a difference. The worst thing you can do is to do nothing. If you see someone being bullied, reach out to the person. He or she will most likely appreciate it.

Answer 8

Allowing people to have access to private medical records is as wrong as allowing the goverment to tap our phones. It is a total invasion of privacy. However, Dr's with an unstable patient in school, should be required to notify the people in charge. we must take a proactive stand and protect our children. If we don't do it, who will?

Answer 9

if you are the least bit familiar with hippa, you will go to prison for many years for even talking about or looking at a person's medical status.

In fact, even to qualify for work as a dentist's secretary or janitor at a hospital you are required to undergo FBI clearance. It would be easier to get into the Marines! Security/privacy is that sensitive these days.

Answer 10

For every 10 doctors you find who say that someone is mentally dangerous to themselves and others, you will find 10 who would say the opposite.

The information may or may not make a difference in VT or the latest shooting so the right to privacy has to be weighed in the schools right to know.

There is no simple solution other than we have to teach our kids from and early age, you are responsible for your actions. Bad actions will trigger bad actions against you, such as jail, expulsion from school etc etc.

Years ago, kids would fist fight when they got mad. Now they run home and get a gun and shot people. Its a lose lose situation as we see since Columbine.