Phillip Zonkel reports: A controversial item that critics have said would violate medical marijuana patients’ privacy rights is part of a proposal under review by the City Council, which would regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The proposal was discussed Monday by the City Council’s Economic Development and Finance Committee, but the item was not addressed. The…
Better safe than sorry: Express Scripts should notify everyone
Almost a year after it was contacted by an extortionist, pharmacy benefits management company Express Scripts first learned that the extortionist was in possession of at least 700,000 more members’ personal information than they originally knew about. The company has now notified those individuals, but how many other members may also be affected? It’s time…
3 accused of stealing diners’ credit card IDs
Robert Moran reports: Three Philadelphia men were indicted yesterday on charges of illegally using the credit and debit cards of customers of two city restaurants by recruiting servers and other workers to steal their account information and then using it to create false – but functioning – cards. According to the federal grand jury indictment,…
Early detection through trending can save thousands of lives
Lucas Mearian reports: Mining electronic patient data to discover health trends and automate life-saving health alerts for patients and their doctors will be the greatest benefit of electronic medical records (EMR), but a survey released today finds a lack of standards, privacy concerns by hospitals and patients and technology limitations is holding back progress. Hundreds…
New abortion law challenged in Oklahoma
Robert Kahn reports: Two Oklahoma women are challenging a new state law set to take effect next month that requires publication of an “Annual Abortion Report” and forces doctors to give details about their patients under threat of criminal sanctions and loss of their medical license, according to a suit in Oklahoma County Court. The…
Judge rejects challenge to Arizona abortion law
Annie Youderian reports: A federal judge in Phoenix refused to block enforcement of an Arizona law that mandates a 24-hour waiting period before abortions can be performed or before doctors can get paid for those procedures. A group of doctors and two health clinics, the Tucson Women’s Center and Family Planning Associates, sued the Arizona…