By AP
Covington, KY – The Kentucky Attorney General has ruled that a far-reaching federal medical privacy law does not give police the legal authority to withhold the names of people injured in accidents.
The decision means the public will have access to information that police departments in two of northern Kentucky's largest cities have declined to release.
Covington and Newport police have cited the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Media law experts across the country say public agencies, such as police departments, have incorrectly interpreted the act to withhold information long considered public.