Patient “Confidentiality” in Kuwait: When your personal aint so personal

I am covered under a private insurance policy through my company (as many of you probably are).

The one that we use is (a very large and well known private insurance company in Kuwait that begins with a G and ends with an F). This insurance company's SOP is: They submit claim statements with deductibles to be paid by employees to the employer WITH full details of your ailment. In other words – NO patient confidentiality. In other other words – if you have anything going on (or even if you don't because you still have to pay a deductable most of the time), your business has just become everybody else’s. For example, who knows now that a certain person has erectile dysfunction? Lots of folks at the insurance company, at the insurance broker company, and at the employees company. Hell – dude sitting next to you might know your bid-ness. The freakin coffee boy might know what's happenin' down South (or any other region)!

How do I know this? Because my personal has been distributed all over my office and then some. I went in for a normal, regular, run-of-the-mill gyno visit and WABANG! All of a sudden, Ahmed in Accounting has a pretty clear picture of what is going on with my V. So does Ali in HR. So does…. Nice lady in HR said that most people don’t know English well enough to understand. I’m like, ‘I’m pretty sure any man anywhere knows what a V is – in any language.’ (And just so ya know - everything is perfectly ok with my V, but I still don't want my name next to the V word in print in my office.)

Do YOU want your wife’s or your sister’s or daughters or even yo momma’s V details broadcast all over Kuwait? Je thinks not. Flana Al-Flana would "Wheeeeeeeeee!" herself to death!

Mine is not an isolated case. I found out intimate details about our chairman by mistake (they sent me his form). I’ve heard talk about people in our office with all kinds of wacky/icky/intimate medical conditions. And mens, Viagra is not covered under insurance - and just incase you were thinking of going to get some and have your special night comped to your company; think again (yes, some genius tried that).

In a country where private matters are usually kept in deep dark closets; all of a sudden private aint so private. The US is supposedly an “open” country, but if someone was to divulge confidential information in a similar manner, we could sue in a heartbeat. I’m checking into what legal recourse I have here. However, the last thing I really want is to have my name stated in court - again with the V word - in front of lots of icky spectators. Wheeeeeeeeeeee!