New Hampshire law to block sale of prescription data

The New Hampshire state Senate unanimously passed legislation May 4 to prohibit the sale of physicians' prescription information to pharmaceutical, insurance, and data-mining companies for commercial purposes. If Gov. John Lynch (D) signs the bill, the state will become the first in the nation to ban such sales.

Rep. Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua), the bill's main sponsor, said it would not affect research, or prohibit pharmaceutical companies from analyzing prescription data with the names of individual physicians removed, according to the Associated Press. Rosenwald said the bill is intended to protect the privacy of medical information and to prevent pharmaceutical sales representatives from pressuring physicians to prescribe certain medications.

The American Medical Association (AMA) will soon offer physicians the choice to have their prescription data kept confidential, although the program would not cover nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, or dentists, Rosenwald said. The AMA has lucrative contracts with data-mining companies for physician prescribing data, the New York Times reports.

Drug store chains, data-mining companies, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (a pharmaceutical company trade group) oppose the bill, saying patients benefit from having the data available.

Sources: "Senate votes to restrict sale of prescription information," (AP); "Doctors object to gathering of drug data," New York Times.