Two companies that collect, analyze and sell prescription information are mounting a Supreme Court challenge to New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation law making doctors’ prescription writing habits confidential. In an appeal filed Friday, IMS Health Inc., of Norwalk, Conn.; and Verispan LLC, of Yardley, Pa., are telling the high court that the law violates their First Amendment…
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Prescription Drug Records at Risk
Former presidential candidate Bob Barr writes: My home state of Georgia may soon join those states that have enacted “Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs,†thereby making individual citizen’s prescription records subject to easier state and federal government snooping. Already nearly three dozen states have such programs in place, a primary reason for which is to receive…
Firm Faulted For Giving Email Addys To Pharma
Les Luchter reports: The revelation that a company that enticed people to take a “Real Age” test sent emails based on their results on behalf of pharmaceutical companies sparked a range of reaction on Thursday. The New York Times reported that nine million people who have taken the Web-based health survey and agreed to free…
Ca: Personal health info at risk with bill, NDP charges
Kerry Diotte reports: Personal medical information isn’t safeguarded in a proposed new provincial health bill, says Alberta’s NDP Leader Brian Mason. The province is now inviting public input into changes for Bill 52 – a piece of legislation that has also been roundly criticized by doctors. “I don’t think there are near enough safeguards on…
Genetic Surveillance for All
What if the FBI put the family of everyone who has ever been convicted or arrested into a giant DNA database? Jeffrey Rosen had an article in Slate earlier this week that is thought-provoking piece on the constitutional and political implications of searching the DNA of family members who are presumed innocent and who are…
Ca: Increased access to medical files a concern for retired nurses
Gary Kean of The Western Star reports: A pair of retired registered nurses from Corner Brook have plenty of questions about the accessibility of medical files under the care of Western Health. Eva Joan Lee spent her career in a community health setting, working with adult patients, while Marjorie Deckert was a nurse in a…