United States: As per the three US lawmakers, law enforcement agencies are receiving Americans’ prescription drug records without the customer’s knowledge and without a judge first signing off on a warrant.
The policies by major retail pharmacy chains, which are allowed under federal rules, could help prosecutors in states that have banned and or restricted abortion go after residents who help women travel to get abortions, worried the Democrats after receiving the findings, ABC News reported.
The actions by law enforcers to tackle the breach
The lawmakers, in a letter to Health and Human Services (HSS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, said that they want the federal government to reinforce the rules so that pharmacies only release medical records to investigators with a judge’s approval.
It is working on finalizing a rule that would strengthen existing privacy rules to protect records related to reproductive health, said HSS, as per ABC News.
HSS wrote, “Through briefings with the major pharmacies, we learned that each year law enforcement agencies secretly obtain the prescription records of thousands of Americans without a warrant,” and added further that “In many cases, pharmacies are handing over sensitive medical records without review by a legal professional. Although pharmacies are legally permitted to tell their customers about government demands for their data, most don’t.”
The letter, which was first reported by the Washington Post, came after a lengthy congressional investigation by Democrats on medical privacy following the Supreme Court decision to overrule Roe vs. Wade.
The letter was signed by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Sara Jacobs of California, ABC News reported.
The Biden government is being demanded by Wyden and other lawmakers to issue an order that a warrant should be presented before sensitive information is passed on by a pharmacy. All of this would fall under the health privacy law- the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (or HIPAA).
They also desire pharmacies to inform customers when that happens unless a judge agrees that would hinder an investigation.
What are the pharmacies saying?
The mentioned pharmacies in the letter say that they are adhering to privacy laws and federal health rules, which don’t require a judge-signed warrant. In many cases, law enforcement presented subpoenas signed by a government agency but not reviewed by a judge.
As per CVC Health, one of the mentioned pharmacies said, it suggested a warrant or judge-issued subpoena requirement be considered by regulators. It also mentioned that it relies on a legal team to ensure all requests are compliant with the law, as per an ABC News report.
In a statement by CVC given to ABC News, “Most investigative requests from regulatory agencies and law enforcement require us by law to keep the request confidential,” it also added, “If a request does not have a confidentiality directive, we consider on a case-by-case basis whether it’s appropriate to notify the individual who is the subject of the request.”
According to a letter to Becerra, pharmacies are dealing with tens of thousands of requests a year, mostly tied to civil litigation, not criminal cases.
Why is it an urgent matter for Democrats?
As states remain divided on abortion access and even some counties follow laws against what they call “abortion trafficking,” or helping a woman travel out of state for an abortion, the issue is likely to be dealt with increased urgency for Democrats.
Under federal regulation, mifepristone can be prescribed virtually to patients up to 10 weeks of gestation and gathered from a local pharmacy, as long as the pharmacy follows certain rules.
While the patient must be in a state where abortion is legal to obtain the drug, pharmacy access has enabled overwhelmed abortion providers in states like California, Colorado, and Illinois to serve more patients via virtual clinics, ABC News reported.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion rights groups have sued to try to remove mifepristone from the market. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, likely ruling on it by next summer.
Legislators and privacy experts have expressed several concerns, including that large pharmacy chains could use a person’s record from different states and be pulled by prosecutors who want to crack down on people helping women traveling.