ACLU challenges DEA attempts to access drug database without warrants
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160729/NEWS/160729864
The ACLU requested to intervene in the DEA’s case challenging a state law that would require them to have a warrant before obtaining records from the Utah Controlled Substance Database. The database contains tens of millions of prescription records for controlled substances, including highly sensitive personal information.
The DEA did not want to reveal why they wanted unfettered access and said its federal authority supersedes state laws. The ACLU maintains that level of access would open individuals up to the risk of warrantless searches and could prevent some from seeking necessary treatment because of privacy concerns.
“This uncovering of highly sensitive and deeply personal information would violate the reasonable expectation of privacy that doctors and patients have in their protected health information,” the ACLU said in its motion to intervene.
Utah created the database in 1995, and by September 2012 it had information on more than 47 million prescription records, ACLU’s motion said. The state ultimately created greater protections for the information in 2015 after two firefighters were accused of prescription drug fraud. Those allegations stemmed from broad searches of database records.
The ACLU says that the DEA could determine individuals’ medical conditions based on the database information, which would severely compromise their privacy and violate their Fourth Amendment rights.
Filed under: General Problems
I’m surprised the ACLU has gotten involved in something that isn’t an anti-Christian suit.
Go ACLU!!!! JUST MAYBE WE SHOULD LOOK AT OTHER STATES WHO MIGHT HAVE LET THE DEA ACCESS THESE RECORDS AND SICK THE ACLU ON BOTH THE DEA AND THE STATE BOARD OF PHARMACY IN THOSE STATES. This is getting way out of control and every citizen in this country should ask themselves this. HOW MUCH LONGER AM I GOING TO LET THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT VIOLATE MY CIVIL RIGHTS?????
Is there really any reasonable expectation of privacy for our medical records any more?
“The HIPAA Paradox: The Privacy Rule That’s Not
HIPAA has undermined both medical care and medical ethics.
Richard Sobel
HIPAA is often described as a privacy rule. It is not. In fact, HIPAA is a disclosure regulation. Effective in April 2003, the federal government gave six hundred thousand “covered entities” regulatory
permission “to use or disclose protected health information for treatment, payment, and health care operations” without patient consent, and with no audit trails for most disclosures. The effect is to
dismantle the longstanding moral and legal tradition of patient confidentiality. By permitting broad and easy dissemination of patients’ medical information, HIPAA has undermined both medical
ethics and the effectiveness of medical care.”
https://www.scribd.com/document/185730646/HASTING-CENTER-The-Privacy-Rule-That-s-Not