Some Things Are Private

William I. Murphy's leller about the proposed federal guidelines on the
privacy of medical records "Medical Records and law Enforcement," Oct. 8
proposes that citizens' medical records be readily available to prosecutors
such as Mr. Murphy and other law officers. He would like these records to
be available without judicial review so that law-enforcement officials can
use them to help identity and arrest suspects.

This suggestion is understandable, coming as it does from someone who seems
to feel that the protection of judicial review of warrants is merely an
"administrative delay" Citizens' expectation of some recognition of their
interest in keeping "privates" private seems to mean too much freedom for
Mr. Murphy's taste.

Although his proposal sounds like a boon for the war on crime, providing
an effective way to identify for arrest those seeking substance abuse
treatments, for example, I see some serious drawbacks to such an approach.

William Hathaway,

Severn, Md.