On January 7, 2014, HHS published a proposed rule that would modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule to expressly permit certain HIPAA covered entities to disclose to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) the identities of individuals who are prohibited under federal law from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm for reasons related to mental health. Comments will be accepted until March 10, 2014.  For more information, see the posting on our Life Sciences Legal Update blog.