Troy Parks writes:
What happens to physician-patient confidentiality when any government agency can obtain a patient’s prescription records without a warrant? A case before a state supreme court threatens to keep these indiscriminant lines of investigation wide open.
Lewis v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, a case before the Supreme Court of the State of California, calls into question whether or not the California Medical Board infringed upon patients’ constitutional right to privacy when it obtained prescription data without a showing of good cause. The board did so through the California Department of Justice (DOJ) database, which allows broad and indiscriminate disclosures to state, local and federal agencies—including law enforcement—and fails to adequately protect patient privacy.
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