> We don't have a generally recognized doctor-patient privilege in US federal law.
You are mistaken.
While currently under assault, Roe v. Wade is the paradigmatic case for the recognition of doctor-patient confidentiality (i.e. "privilege") by the Federal government.
> The fundamental right to privacy, guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution, protects against unwarranted invasions of privacy by federal or state entities, or arms thereof. As early as in Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), the U. S. Supreme Court acknowledged that the doctor-patient relationship is one which evokes constitutional rights of privacy. [0]
> This doesn't say that the federal rules of evidence recognize doctor-patient privilege, and, in fact, the same site says explicitly that it doesn't.
With all due respect, I disagree with your assertion that "the federal rules of evidence [doesn't] recognize doctor-patient privilege".
SCOTUS's saying they
> simply hold that this record [Whalen] does not establish an invasion of any right or liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. [0]
implies that there could be an invasion of a right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, just not in this case.
While you are strictly correct that this is not a representation of doctor-patient privilege, SCOTUS's assertion that Whalen does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment suggests the possibility that some distribution of medical data could violate the Fourteenth Amendment.
As a side note, your assertion that the "same site says explicitly that it doesn't" recognize doctor-patient privilege is questionable. Would you mind pointing out which passage is explicit about this?
Nerding out is a good way characterizing where we've gotten and--as I suspected earlier and am now certain--I don't understand what "Federal Rules of Evidence" means in the larger discussion of what kinds of disclosure would violate someone's constitutional rights.
You are mistaken.
While currently under assault, Roe v. Wade is the paradigmatic case for the recognition of doctor-patient confidentiality (i.e. "privilege") by the Federal government.
> The fundamental right to privacy, guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution, protects against unwarranted invasions of privacy by federal or state entities, or arms thereof. As early as in Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), the U. S. Supreme Court acknowledged that the doctor-patient relationship is one which evokes constitutional rights of privacy. [0]
[0] https://healthcare.uslegal.com/doctor-patient-confidentialit...