An Ohio hospital at the center of online rumors said Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was never a patient there, prompting Talarico to reject social media claims that he received treatment at the facility. Talarico said he has never visited Ohio.
The allegations surfaced after Talarico's absence from the campaign trail, which his campaign attributed to a bout of the flu. They spread widely after conservative influencer Nick Sortor claimed on X that Talarico had received treatment at the Lindner Center of Hope, an Ohio mental health facility. The post drew more than 6.8 million views within a day.
The hospital responded to the allegations on Sunday, Oct. 11, issuing a statement on X, denying that Talarico had ever been a patient.
"Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope," the hospital wrote on X.
Talarico's response came after the Ohio hospital said he had never been a patient there. In an Oct. 12 post on X, Talarico wrote that he had never even been to Ohio.
The allegations prompted online discussion about patient privacy and whether the disclosure of a person's medical treatment, if it occurred, could raise HIPAA concerns. The federal law establishes safeguards for patients' medical information and generally restricts health care providers from disclosing protected health information without authorization.
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