[superuser2]

Nope. To set a precedent it would have to precede. Giving de-identified medical records to researchers is a long-standing, well-established and regulated process. The only interesting thing here is that it's Google and not some PhD's university lab.

Here's HHS on what HIPAA has to say about this: [0]

[0] http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/special-t...