At some point, nearly everyone has used a prescription medication to help heal us. Of course, the last thing we're thinking about when we're trying to get better is what's happening with the information created about us once we fill a prescription. But the sad reality is that your prescription data is FOR SALE.
What's the big deal? Well, when you think about it, the medication you take can reveal a lot about what your health conditions might be. You should be able to take your information"Off the Market" so that sensitive details about your health are kept private.
Unfortunately, all 51,000 pharmacies in the U.S. are wired to sell your data. You cannot keep your prescriptions private, even if you pay cash.Part of the issue is that selling prescription records makes some people a lot of money. In 2006 IMS Health reported revenues of $2 Billion for selling prescription records (that's just one company!).
Slowing down a multi-billion dollar a year industry is a huge challenge, but...we're not giving up!
Help us by signing the petition to
Want to Learn More? Check out these resources:
Data-Miners Are Suing States with Stronger Prescription Privacy Laws
Read:
- Data-Miners unite in Maine to block 'opt-out' Rx law: by Joseph Conn / HITS staff writer, Modern Healthcare, 11.20.07
- Drug info firms target prescriber data laws: Doctors do not have a privacy right to their prescription writing habits, data-collection firms say as they sue in Vermont & Maine: by Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews Staff, 10.01.07
Listen:
- Drug Industry Mine Physicians' Data to Boost Sale: by Wendy Kaufman / Morning Edition, NPR, 06.26.07
Pharmacies Throw PHI in Dumpsters, Sell Your Records to Other Pharmacies
Read:
- Pharmacies sell off your data: by Magdalene Perez, Newsday, 06.19.07
- Patient Privacy Violated: Local pharmacies on Carter's list:by Thomas Langhorne, Courier Press, 09.21.07
Your Doctor Can Opt-Out of "Detailing" and Keep Your Records Private
Physicians can use the AMA to opt-out of having their prescription records data mined...when will Congress ensure that YOU have this same right to opt-out?
Read:
- AMA Physician Data Restriction Program: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/12054.html
- Ask your doctor: has s/he opted out?
Want Some Examples of the Sale of Americans' Personal Health Information?
Read:
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CVS Caremark's iScribe e-prescribing program obtains absolute rights via their service agreement to all inputted data, allowing them to sell data to drug manufacturers, clearinghouses, and data analysis companies.
- "CVS Caremark: An Alarming Prescription", Change to Win - November 2008.
- And they're not the only ones. Learn more here.
Who is Selling Your Data?
(Click here to download the above image as a pdf)
News
New Hampshire's Data Mining Case Heads to the Supreme Court
In response to the ruling last November in IMS Health v. Ayotte, a petition for appeal has been presented to the Supreme Court. The new petition is titled IMS Health, Inc. and Verispan, LLC v. Ayotte. Again, these data miners are trying to make prescription buying, selling, and data mining, that leads to the targeting of physicians with specific drugs and more, fall under their first amendment rights.
CVS Caremark raises concern
Our friends at Change to Win have created a report titled CVS Caremark: An alarming prescription, where they describe the largest provider of prescriptions in the United States as "putting patient privacy at risk, putting profits over patient health, and taking advantage of its clients." Read more.
Appeals court rules in favor of prescription privacy!
At issue was whether the state of New Hampshire’s Prescription Drug Privacy Law could stop pharmaceutical companies from using prescription information to target physicians and persuade them to prescribe different drugs. The data miners making billions by selling our prescription records vigorously opposed the New Hampshire law and similar laws in Vermont and Maine.
But this week the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court opinion in IMS Health v. Ayotte and ruled unanimously in support of the New Hampshire law.
Our good friends at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) argued to support the state privacy law, in a friend of the court brief. Learn more here.