Your Privacy Protected: Bill That Would Have Allowed Pharmacies to Share Patient Records with Drug Companies Unanimously Defeate

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Zack Kaldveer
Consumer Federation of California

That's right, the final score of this battle over keeping prescription drug records private reads California consumers 1 - drug stores, pharmaceutical companies, and drug marketers 0.

I have posted a lot about SB 1096 in recent weeks, and I'm happy to say that the roller coaster ride is over! My first post on the topic was regarding its initial, and short lived defeat in the Senate. But alas, the bill was not dead...and came back to win Senate approval by a single vote.

It was at that time that the media started to cover the issue, with thanks to such reporters as the San Francisco Chronicle's Elizabeth Fernandez and the Los Angeles Times David Lazarus. The media's scrutiny of the bill's claims, along with the effective and outspoken opposition of groups such as ours (CFC) and Consumer Watchdog, combined with the outpouring of public sentiment AGAINST the legislation that arose in the last week created a kind of legislative "perfect storm". And Thankfully, our lawmakers were listening, as evidenced by its near unanimous defeat in the Assembly Health Committee.

As you probably know, we opposed SB 1096 (Calderon) because it raised significant privacy and health care concerns for patients. The bill would have created an exception to California's Medical Information Act, and allow sharing of confidential patient drug prescription information without a patient's consent. The bill's main backer, Adheris Inc., is a subsidiary of inVentiv Health Inc., a drug marketing company.

With that brief rehash of the past, let's get right to another great piece by David Lazarus...this time discussing the bill's rather stunning, and overwhelming defeat yesterday:

"The bill's "source" was a company called Adheris Inc., which used to be known as Elensys Care Services Inc. The company changed its name after it came to light in 1998 that CVS and other pharmacies were sending people's medical info to Elensys without their permission....

"One problem with Calderon's bill was its lack of transparency about who would pay for the reminder letters, and which patients would get them. Calderon originally told me that Adheris is paid by drugstores to handle communications on their behalf. He acknowledged Tuesday that drug companies "at times" reimburse pharmacies for their expenses.

"That's putting it mildly. Adheris Chairman Mike Evanisko testified before the state Senate's Health Committee in March that funding for the company's activities frequently comes from drug makers.