If Sean Spicer wasn’t totally in touch with HIPAA laws going into Monday, he sure knows all about it now after commenting on Twitter about what he thought was a violation of the laws. In response to the news that ABC reporter John Santucci tweeting that Chad Gilmartin, a member of the White House press shop, had a positive COVID-19 test, Spicer, who served under Trump as press secretary in 2017, called out what he believed to be a HIPAA violation, “… revealing their name seems like a violation of HIPPA.” He also came under fire for writing “HIPPA” instead of “HIPAA” in his tweet.
The news about Gilmartin continues the troubling trend of those in and around the White House testing positive in the wake of President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Trump, who was recently released from Walter Reed medical center on Monday evening, revealed last Friday that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, were positive for the coronavirus. Since then, more and more of those in his circle, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, have shared the news of their positive tests.
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As for Spicer, he has been facing plenty of heat on social media for his remarks. Here is a look at some of the most notable responses to come his way after his accusation of the news violating HIPAA laws.
That’s not how HIPAA works.
— Rep. Donna E. Shalala (@RepShalala) October 5, 2020
I should know…I wrote it. https://t.co/tgwxH8EW7A
It’s HIPAA with two A’s, but one of them stands for “Accountability” so I can see why you dropped it
— Mike Dorsey 😷 (@DorseyFilm) October 5, 2020
HIPPA governs communications between healthcare providers and patients. Unless Santucci is moonlighting, HIPPA doesn’t apply. You know this. Stop being disingenuous.
— Yep (@Andrews3Ra) October 5, 2020
HIPAA
— SRM_MD (@srmduke87) October 5, 2020
If you can’t spell the acronym and don’t understand who is party to that particular law, perhaps you shouldn’t be tweeting about it.
Unless they learned it directly from a hospital (unlikely) you’re totally wrong on this.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) October 5, 2020
Also it’s spelled “HIPAA.”
If you can’t even spell HIPAA then it’s a pretty good bet you don’t know what it says
— Yes, You’re Racist (@YesYoureRacist) October 5, 2020
Narrator: Sean Spicer was misinformed. It was not a HIPAA violation.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 5, 2020
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