That’s the issue on appeal in Pyle v. Woods, in which Public Citizen filed the opening brief today in the Tenth Circuit.
Utah law directs the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to create and maintain a state Controlled Substance Database of all prescriptions for controlled substances filled at pharmacies in the state. Pharmacists are required to report patients’ prescription records — including patient’s name, date, and drug dosage and quantity — to the Database without patients’ consent. These prescription records can reveal an array of private information about a person, such as whether he has AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, anxiety, depression, or a variety of other conditions.
Read more on Public Citizen. Last year, Utah enacted a law that would require a warrant to obtain such records. The DEA was not happy.