Have we really reached the point where it's OK to leak an athlete's medical chart?

FWIW, the Daily News is reporting that the medical charts "may have" been given to Schefter by someone in JPP's camp:

Giants' JPP has index finger amputated after injury - NY Daily News

And I guess it's been mentioned in the last 7 pages that Schefter is not subject to prosecution/sanction under HIPAA. That only applies to whatever medical professional released the info (if one did).

It's similar to leaked grand jury testimony. Reporters aren't subject to prosecution for reporting it; the court clerk (or whomever) that leaked it is.

Whether or not it was unethical for him to post a photo of the medical chart I guess is an open question.

 

Every week during the season the each NFL team is required to spill the medical status of each player they have so gamblers can set their betting lines.

This JPP thing does extend the boundaries of that, but it is news, without question, and JPP gave up a lot of privacy when he signed the contract to play in the NFL.

 

Yes. Journalists could be on the hook for libel if we published a bogus medical chart and suspected it. But even so, with a public figure there is a lot of protection.

It's kind of like getting the fairly routine complaints that newspapers aren't complying with Title IX by not devoting 50 percent of our Sports sectiont to women's sports.

That law doesn't apply to us. It applies to the schools.

 

Just because you can do something, doesn't always mean that you should.

I think posting the medical chart was out of bounds. Report all you want on the fact that JPP had a finger amputated, but I don't believe that tweeting a picture of the chart advances the story at all. I think it was in poor taste and self-serving.

I'm glad somebody at the WWL had the sense to not use the photo of the medical records in the online story and on SportsCenter.

 

The Giants almost certainly did not leak the document. Apparently, JPP did not even allow Giants' officials into the room when they came to visit him at the hospital. Not much chance they even had his medical records to give to Schefter.

 

Isn't journalism ethics an oxymoron?

 

Since Watergate, yes.

 

Schefter responds:

Adam Schefter Explains Why He Posted Jason Pierre-Paul's Medical Records


“This was a public figure and franchise player involved in a widely speculated accident with potential criminal behavior in which there was a cone of secrecy that surrounded him for five days that not even his own team could crack...n a day and age in which pictures and videos tell stories and confirm facts, in which sources and their motives are routinely questioned, and in which reporters strive to be as accurate as possible, this was the ultimate supporting proof.
...
“In trying to be thorough and accurate, we delivered that news as soon as possible with the supporting proof if it happened. To me, that’s just doing my job”
...
It is interesting to note that in this interview, Schefter makes clear that his source sought him out and not the other way around. “I never once requested a single image from anyone at any time,” Schefter said. “The images came to me.” It’s cold to say, but this is a source that he won’t need in the future and doesn’t have to protect now.

 

F**k him. That was a hack move done by someone who doesn't need to make hack moves to make a name for himself.

 

"potential criminal behavior". WTF?