|
Mental health records were considered highly confidential and more private than standard medical records even before HIPAA. I think the argument of waiving your mental health history privacy leading to waiving other rights because you are mentally ill is just as silly as the argument that allowing gay marriage will lead to allowing marriage to children or animals. There are limits to freedom of speech for the mentally ill already though. There was more than one time that the secret service showed up at inpatient psych program where I was working to interview a patient who had sent threatening mail to the White House, usually right before the sitting President was going to make an appearance in the area. You don't get to say anything you want. You don't get to threaten government officials or presidential candidates.
The difficulty is in the logistics. Mental health records are not centrally stored anywhere. You would have to check records of every mental health facility, independent professional, and even primary care doctors who prescribe mental health medications. There is no mechanism for that. There is also the issue that the first psychotic break usually occurs after adulthood so they could already have a gun. There's really no way to screen for that.
|