A congressional investigation has discovered that law enforcement agencies have been accessing patient prescription records through pharmacies without warrants, with most people unaware that their private data is being handed over to authorities.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, along with Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Sara Jacobs (Calif.) alerted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of what they’ve uncovered.
“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. In many cases, pharmacies are handing over sensitive medical records without review by a legal professional,” the lawmakers said in a letter to HHS.
“Although pharmacies are legally permitted to tell their customers about government demands for their data, most don’t,” they continued. “As a result, many Americans’ prescription records have few meaningful privacy protections, and those protections vary widely depending on which pharmacy they use.”