Patient Handbook - NIH Clinical Center - National Institutes of Health

the requirements of the Privacy Act regarding
such records.
u If a Government employee is involved in a
lawsuit, records may be released that facilitate
the employee’s defense.
u The Bureau of the Census may request records
for census or survey purposes, and records may
be released for archival purposes to the National
Archives.
u Records may be released for law enforcement
purposes to a law enforcement agency, and
records may be released in response to a
court order.
16 Patient Handbook
S E C T I O N T W O
u Whenever medical information about you as
an identifiable individual is disclosed to anyone
who is not an employee of the DHHS, notation
of the reason for the disclosure and the
identity of the recipient of the information
is made in your medical record. When such
disclosures are for one of the reasons described
above, or if disclosure is otherwise required by
law, the NIH does not seek your written permission
to make the disclosure.
u Except for the uses described here, medical
information about a patient is not given to
anyone without the specific written permission
of the patient or a legally authorized
representative. However, there is one additional
exception to that rule: if at some later
time, a hospital or physician who is caring for
you needs information immediately, and if
waiting to obtain your written release of the
information would endanger your health, the
information will be released immediately, and
you will be notified of the release later.