The recent hacking of the Virginia prescription database is affecting some patients’ ability to obtain prescription medications, according to a report filed by the Associated Press: A House panel learned that powerful drugs such as Oxycontin, Valium, Vicodin and Ritalin are being withheld because pharmacists can’t check with the prescription drug database that still allows…
Author: Dissent
SCOTUS won't hear prescription data-mining case
The wire services are reporting that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal by IMS Health Inc and Verispan that challenged a New Hampshire law would block companies from data-mining prescription information for the purpose of increasing drug sales. The companies had argued that the law violated their free speech rights. This is…
Celebrity Twitpic accounts hacked
The Associated Press is reporting that hackers were able to break into some Twitpic accounts due to a “vulnerability” in the system. The service allows Twitter users to share photographs, but is not owned by Twitter. The extent of the hack or its purpose was not reported, but the hackers reportedly sent out fake information…
A Push for the Wired Patient’s Bill of Rights
Starting with a few dozen supporters, including health bloggers, individual physicians, startups and Microsoft, a group is seeking to firmly inject the rights of patients into the Obama administration’s multibillion-dollar drive to computerize medical records. The group’s effort begins with a Web site, HealthDataRights.org, which goes live on Monday night. And it is a bottom-up…
Broad Coalition Says Consumer Role Is Key to Improving Health and Health Care
From the press release: The future of health care should encourage expanded use of information tools to help consumers better manage their health, 56 diverse organizations said today as they embraced a framework for personal health information access and privacy. “Consumers need to be full participants in modern health information tools and services to help…
Blue Chip FTP Logins on Server
Security researchers have found a treasure chest of FTP passwords, some from high profile sites, on an open cybercrime server. Jacques Erasmus, CTO at security tools firm Prevx, stumbled across a site where a Trojan is uploading FTP login credentials captured from compromised machines. So far, Erasmus has found logins for ftp.bbc.co.uk, ftp.cisco.com, ftp.amazon.com, ftp.monster.com…