Reports: HIPAA waived for Orlando hospital in wake of nation's deadliest mass shooting

Police respond to the mass shooting at the Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida (Orlando Police Department photo)

At the request of the Orlando Health CEO David Strong, the White House has waived HIPAA privacy regulations so that families can get information on the victims of the nation's deadliest shooting Sunday at the Pulse night club.

Strong approached Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer about the issue  families coming to the emergency room seeking information that could not be released due to HIPAA, according to published reports.

The White House reportedly went through the appropriate channels of the Department of Health and Human Services to waive the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 so the hospital could communicate with families.

HIPAA was initially enacted to facilitate the necessary flow of health information while taking care not to compromise individuals' rights to retain control over privileged information, according to Slate.

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The special waiver allows doctors in Orlando to share information with family members without the victim's consent.

In what President Obama called a horrific massacre, Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire in the Orlando gay nightclub early Sunday morning, killing 49 people. Mateen was killed by law enforcement after taking some of the club-goers hostage.

As of Monday morning, 43 victims remained in the hospital, according to Orlando Regional Medical Center's Twitter account.

"We operated until late last night and have 6 operations today," it said. "Some are already in the OR."

President Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the victims.

"FBI Director Comey and my homeland security and national security advisors are on the scene in an investigation that has yet has reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer," Obama said. "Although it's still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate," he said. "The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub - it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights," the president said.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse