WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Kevin Mullin joined federal lawmakers in calling upon the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to immediately suspend efforts to pressure some of the nation’s largest hospital systems to hand over the detailed, personally identifiable medical records of every patient who visits their emergency departments.
Recent reporting has revealed that the Commission is directing hospitals to transmit sensitive records—including patient names, birthdates, addresses, and diagnoses—to its private contractor as part of changes to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). For decades, hospitals across the country have voluntarily participated in NEISS to report injuries involving consumer products, such as kitchen appliances and toys, to help identify products with a pattern of injuring consumers. But now, the Commission is amassing an unprecedented trove of identifiable health data of emergency department patients, regardless of whether an injury involved a consumer product. This sweeping data collection initiative is particularly alarming considering the Trump administration’s broader pattern of amassing Americans’ sensitive data and repurposing it to advance political priorities. In the letter, the lawmakers raised concerns regarding the necessity and legality of this initiative, the adequacy of its privacy protections, and the purposes to which this trove of sensitive data may ultimately be put.
The letter to Peter Feldman, Acting Chairman of the CPSC, was authored by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Mullin (CA-15) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and cosigned by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), and Kelly Morrison (MN-03).
In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “The Commission is advancing this effort amid a broader pattern of the Trump administration seeking unprecedented access to Americans’ private data. From the Office of Personnel Management’s demand for federal workers’ health information to the Department of Health and Human Services sharing Medicaid enrollee data with the Department of Homeland Security, this administration has repeatedly sought to collect sensitive data from everyday Americans without a semblance of transparency.”
The lawmakers continued, “Against that backdrop, creating a federal repository of identifiable medical records—with no evidence of any limits on how that data may be used, shared, or repurposed—is deeply alarming. Such data collection could easily discourage people in need from seeking care at an emergency department or from being transparent with their medical providers out of fear of federal surveillance or inappropriate use of their information. Even if the Commission uses these records solely to advance consumer protection, creating a federal database of identifiable medical records gives an administration that has repeatedly sought access Americans’ sensitive data another powerful tool for surveillance and misuse.”
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