Harold Perkins mom is absolutely right but, sadly, she shouldn't be surprised

LSU's Harold Perkins Jr. devastatingly went down with a clearly aggravating injury during the Tigers' Week 4 game against the UCLA Bruins.

Following Perkins' injury, there was speculation galore until head coach Brian Kelly shared that his player's status wouldn't be updated until Monday, two days after the game, following tests on his knee.

However, on Sunday evening, it was reported that Perkins had torn his ACL and would be sidelined for the remainder of the season. Immediately, fans were sharing their heartbreak over the news but one person expressed their outrage about the announcement: Perkins' mother.

Bertha Walton, Perkins' mom, shared via X (Twitter) that neither she nor anyone else in the Perkins family had permitted the players' medical information to be released. Walton claimed that the disclosure of Perksin' status was a HIPAA violation.

Also read: The mother of Harold Perkins makes a solid point with the release of injury news

With the changing landscape of collegiate sports, including NIL deals, the line between amateur and professional athletes has become more blurry than ever. However, despite collegiate athletes being allowed to make money through Name, Image, and Likeness deals, they are still amateur athletes and therefore privy to withholding their own medical information.

Sacred Heart University lays out how a student-athlete's medical information should be handled:

"It is the right of every student to maintain the confidentiality of their protected medical information, which includes information regarding student-athlete injuries and illnesses. Student-athletes are given the option of signing a Student Athlete Authorization/Consent for Disclosure, which is required for SHU to release protected health information to the public. If this form is not signed, SHU will not disclose protected medical information. Student-athletes may revoke a Student Athlete Authorization/Consent for Disclosure that they previously signed at any time by giving notice to SHU's Director of Athletics."

While Walton is absolutely right about Perkins' information being preemptively being released, at the end of the day, should she be all that surprised?

College athletes are at the front and center of the news cycle on a regular basis, much less a star football player who was recently injured. So many people work tirelessly to find out as much information about athletes and teams as their full time jobs.

Yes, it is devastating that Perkins' information was shared before he or his family was okay with it. However, we live in an era where information is constantly shared and it, unfortunately, isn't all that surprising that his medical results were shared early.

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