Selling Prescriptions and Patient Information - More Common Than You Think

Carrie Strasser — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:07:44 GMT

The NY Times reported yesterday that people's prescriptions and personal information including Social Security numbers and addresses, are often sold without a patient's knowledge or consent. This practice may decrease if some restrictions included in the federal stimulus law are strictly enforced. The federal stimulus law prohibits the sale of personal health information except in certain instances for research and public health measures. Additionally, the law includes stricter rules for informing patients when their information may have been compromised by hackers or negligent healthcare workers.

“The new rules will plug some gaping holes in our federal health privacy laws,” said Deven McGraw, a health privacy expert at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technologyin Washington. “For the first time, pharmacy benefit managers that handle most prescriptions and banks and contractors that process millions of medical claims will be held accountable for complying with federal privacy and security rules.”

While the new law won't cease companies from trading people's personal information, it will increase the regulations on such trades and increase the penalties of abusing the process.

Many companies argue that patients' names and other personal information are removed before the prescriptions are sold to drug manufacturers or others. However, this is not always the case.

Other's argue that tracking patient prescription data is a valuable source of health research. Gathering and analyzing such information assists researchers in identifying dangerous trends and/or side effects associated with certain prescriptions drugs.

“Data stripped of patient identity is an important alternative in health research and managing quality of care,” said Randy Frankel, an IMS vice president. As for the ability to put the names back on anonymous data, he said IMS has “multiple encryptions and various ways of separating information to prevent a patient from being re-identified.”

Under the new law, it is still permissible to sell patient prescription data to drug manufacturers as long as patients' names are removed. However, the stimulus law places a restriction on this by allowing pharmacy companies to send marketing information to customers limited to the specific drugs they are currently taking.

Some states such a Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont prohibit the collecting and selling of prescription information to drug manufacturers outright.

If you believe that your personal information has been compromised and would like more information, click here.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Carrie Strasser

Stoughton / Canton Area Personal Injury Lawyer - hipaa rights

Selling Prescriptions and Patient Information - More Common Than You Think