CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens Hand Out Medical Records to Cops Without Warrants
fliptop writes:
Lawmakers want HHS to revise health privacy law to require warrants:
All of the big pharmacy chains in the US hand over sensitive medical records to law enforcement without a warrant-and some will do so without even running the requests by a legal professional, according to a congressional investigation.
The revelation raises grave medical privacy concerns, particularly in a post-Dobbs era in which many states are working to criminalize reproductive health care. Even if people in states with restrictive laws cross state lines for care, pharmacists in massive chains, such as CVS, can access records across borders.
Lawmakers noted the pharmacies' policies for releasing medical records in a letter dated Tuesday to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. The letter-signed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.)-said their investigation pulled information from briefings with eight big prescription drug suppliers.
All eight of the pharmacies said they do not require law enforcement to have a warrant prior to sharing private and sensitive medical records, which can include the prescription drugs a person used or uses and their medical conditions. Instead, all the pharmacies hand over such information with nothing more than a subpoena, which can be issued by government agencies and does not require review or approval by a judge.
[...] For now, HIPAA regulations grant patients the right to know who is accessing their health records. But, to do so, patients have to specifically request that information-and almost no one does that. "Last year, CVS Health, the largest pharmacy in the nation by total prescription revenue, only received a single-digit number of such consumer requests," the lawmakers noted.
"The average American is likely unaware that this is even a problem," the lawmakers said.
Originally spotted on Schneier on Security.
Related:
- Websites Selling Abortion Pills are Sharing Sensitive Data With Google
- Meta Faces Lawsuit for Allegedly Collecting Patient Health Data Without Consent
- Google has Access to Detailed Health Records on Tens of Millions of Americans
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