MARGARET COOPER-VAUGHN Empire Physicians Medical Group broke hippa confidentiality would not see a 5 month pregnant woman who was having a breakdown palm desert, California

We told your cousin that she needs to take her Prozac and that the doctor cant do anything for her today (THAT is a violation of Hipaa! That woman did not have a release to disclose any patient information about what medications she was taking.
- So your cousin who you have been talking to during this entire situation never once said that she was prescribed Prozac?  You knew she was taking it, and I bet that the Dr. Office knew that you knew as well.  By the way if you were so concerned about HIPAA when you called your therapist friend, and the Urgent Care did you just leave out the part about what she was prescribed and stop taking?

My therapist friend thought it was absurd that the doctor couldnt fit her in so he recommends a few websites for me to look up so that I could try to find a therapist in her area or some type of professional that could see her that day!
As to your "therapist" friend she sounds like a Malpractice suit waiting to happen.  Based on what you wrote it sounds like she should have not recommended that you search around for a therapist,  instead she should have said to tell your cousin to go to the ER immediately.

The woman came back on the phone and said that because she is pregnant the doctor cant see her because he would not be able to prescribe her anything. The woman recommended that I call her OB back since it was not yet 2pm and try to get her in.

--I highly doubt this. What doctor refuses to see a patient because they think they can't give them medication? Of, course you can give pregnant women meds, just certain ones you cant. Besides, why would they think they had to give her anything. This makes no sense, so probably is not true
---Secondly, why are you so concerned about HIPAA if you were the one calling. If you were so concerned about her privacy, you shouldn't have called at all.
---Thirdly, the doctor probably apologized just to shut you up.
--Lastly, she said "thank you" before she hung up. She's busy, get over it.

First of all, I had my husband write this and he was only writing what I asked him to. Sorry if his misspellings confused you. We were just trying to get the message across!

My cousin just moved to the Yucca Valley area and has an HMO insurance policy.  It took a number of weeks for her to find a doctor that would accept her and Cooper Vaughn was the first.

My cousin has been struggling in many different areas with her pregnancy and was recommended to take Prozac. She listened to the doctors advice and made the decision to take the medication. My cousin had horrible reactions
to the medication. She felt worse than before.

She felt irritable and had an uncomfortable feeling in her belly that she had never had before and her gut instincts told her to stop taking it and possibly try something else (the doctor was aware that she stopped).

Friday morning (about a week after she stopped taking the Prozac) my cousin was not feeling good. She had severe anxiety; her heart was racing and was hysterical crying on her drive to work so she called the doctor to see if she could come in to be seen that day.

They told her that they were booked and couldnt see her till the following week. My cousin said ok and made the appointment for the week after.

An hour or so went by and things did not get better and she called again crying saying that it was an emergency and didnt feel like she could make it through the weekend. The nurses told her to told hold on as they would ask the doctor what they should do.

The nurse came back on the phone and said that the doctor told her that she needs to take her Prozac. My cousin said that she wasnt going to take it again because she had weird reactions and wanted to maybe try something different. They said they would have the doctor call her back.

At this time is when my cousin phoned me (I live 4 hours away from her).  I talked to her for awhile to see what was going on. I told her that she needed to call them back and demand to be seen. She did and they said we dont have any openings and we close at 2pm today. 

So then I called a therapist friend of mine and asked what I should do for her in this case.

My therapist friend thought it was absurd that the doctor couldnt fit her in so he recommends a few websites for me to look up so that I could try to find a therapist in her area or some type of professional that could see her that day!

I personally went through postpartum depression and anxiety after I had my son. My cousin was going through ever similar things I went through but still had 5 more months till her due date.

After I was not able to find any therapist in her area under the websites that were recommended I called my cousin and got her insurance information.

I looked up United Health Care HMO on the internet and tried to find a therapist but was unsuccessful. I found doctors in her area that took her insurance and called them.

Because she has HMO they would not see her without reviewing her records and that could take up to two weeks. I asked them what I should do and they told me that they cant give me any medical advice over the phone. I called an urgent care that took her insurance. I told urgent care what her situation was and they put me on hold to ask the doctor if he could see her.  

The woman came back on the phone and said that because she is pregnant the doctor cant see her because he would not be able to prescribe her anything. The woman recommended that I call her OB back since it was not yet 2pm and try to get her in.

So.. I called Cooper Vaughns office and first spoke to the woman who answered the phone. I told her that my cousin had called 3 times trying to get in today and was struggling and needed to be seen. The woman asked who my cousin was and I told her. She put me on hold for 7 minutes and came back on the phone to tell me the following:

We told your cousin that she needs to take her Prozac and that the doctor cant do anything for her today (THAT is a violation of Hipaa! That woman did not have a release to disclose any patient information about what medications she was taking.

I told her that my cousin doesnt have to take Prozac because she is having weird reactions and needs to be seen no matter what. She put me on hold for 8 minutes and then the doctor picked up the phone. The doctor asked who I was and I told her. She started talking to me about my cousin and then stopped.

She said that she needs to check the chart to make sure she was able to disclose information to me. I told her she could check the chart but that she would not see my name.

I told her that she should remind her staff to do the same because they disclosed patient information to me. The doctor apologized and said that her staff was probably trying to just help. I told her that if they were trying to help they would get her in.

I told the doctor that she is my cousins OB/GYN and she trusts that when she needs to talk to her or see her under dire circumstances that youll be there for her. I told the doctor that my cousin is probably going to need to look for another doctor if this is the norm. Then the doctor said thank you and hung up on me!

If your "cusin" (cousin) was in dire straits then what is the reason you are blaming the DR ie: Ob/Gyn not OBGYN.  Any physician would instruct you to go to the ER.  Every Physician I know would so the same thing - GO TO THE ER!! And I suggest you look up what HIPAA is not HIPPA.

Could you tell us what happened. If it was an emergency, did she see another doctor? Go to the emergency room? You can't just make a vague accusation like that and expect to be believed.

BTW: You never said how she violated HIPAA (not hippa).