District Court Says DEA's Warrantless Access Of Oregon's Prescription Database Is Unconstitutional
from the the-War-on-Drugs-has-no-time-for-your-outdated-'rights' dept
Early last year, the news surfaced that the DEA was bypassing Oregon state law by using administrative subpoenas to get around the state's warrant requirement for drug prescription database access. "Administrative subpoenas" are yet another government tool that allows agencies to seek information that would normally require a warrant, but without the hassle of running it past a judge or even showing probable cause.
The DEA probably didn't expect to encounter much resistance to its subpoenas. After all, drugs are bad and the DEA is fighting the good fight. But the state of Oregon wasn't impressed with the DEA's warrantless tactics and filed suit with the assistance of the ACLU. The ACLU is now reporting that a federal judge has ruled in its (and Oregon's favor) and the DEA (along with other law enforcement entities) will no longer be able to skirt the state's warrant requirement.
For the first time, a federal judge has ruled that patients have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their drug prescription records, and that law enforcement must obtain a warrant in order to search such information…As the ruling points out, citizens have long associated privacy with medical treatment, something that has gone hand-in-hand dating back to the 4th century B.C.E. and the origin of the Hippocratic Oath. It also points out the obvious: federal law itself (HIPAA) contains built-in privacy protections. (Hence the form you have to sign, the privacy info sheet you're handed on every visit, and signs everywhere telling you to stand behind them for the privacy of the patient in front of you.)
“This is a victory for privacy and for the constitutional rights of anyone who ever gets drug prescriptions,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Nathan Freed Wessler, who argued the case last month. “The ruling recognizes that confidential medical records are entitled to the full protection of the Fourth Amendment. The court rightly rejected the federal government’s extreme argument that patients give up their privacy rights by receiving medical treatment from doctors and pharmacists.”
The judge's decision also notes that stripping away this expectation of privacy will have a chilling effect on those seeking medical care, something that could have very adverse effects on the health of people who might avoid seeking treatment because they fear their medical records will be exposed.
As the ACLU notes in its press release, it's not exactly happy the state of Oregon has chosen to create a centralized database of drug prescriptions, but, if it is going to do so, it has at least chosen to take the privacy of those contained in the database very seriously.
This decision strikes a small blow against the government's routine abuse of "exceptions" to warrant requirements as well as against its even more routine abuse of the "third party doctrine," which the DEA actually used to claim that talking to a doctor is no different than dialing a phone. The DEA knows there's a huge difference between these two "third parties" but applying that knowledge means showing probable cause and getting a judge to sign off on the warrant, two aspects it apparently feels only hampers its War on Drugs.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: aclu, dea, hipaa, oregon, privacy, warrantless access
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Like I said before...
Unless a person is listening in on the conversation directly, you should have an expectation of privacy with your phone calls.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Where there is war, there have to be casualties
Besides - think about THE CHILDREN(tm)!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Like I said before...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/dhp_programs/pmp/pmp_desc.asp
Highly useful for checking to see if a patient seeking narcotics is on the up and up so you can just tell them no. Or dismiss them from the practice.
Sounds like the DEA was trying to get access whenever they wanted, instead of only getting access when they have an open investigation and a warrant. Good to hear they didn't get it. The point of these programs is to curb prescription abuse, not to make it easy to find people to prosecute.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Correction to Headline
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What is the problem with getting a warrant?Re:
You mean law enforcement agencies should actually do their job properly, the way the Constitution and Founding Fathers intend?
Why, that means they would have to do some actual work, and know the law, and other unpleasant things like that..
Heaven forbid...
/s
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
- Lazy DEA agents
- Lack of reading/writing/communication skills
- Weak/no case
- A judge would likely NOT grant the warrant
- They would prefer to not be scrutinized
- Questionable methods use during investigation
- General incompetence
- Lack of any civics training
- Lack of respect for the Constitution
- Contempt for the general populace
- Self-righteous attitude, common with members of law enforcement
I could go on and on and on...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Screw the DEA
But once you look at the big picture - the results and implications - it becomes clear these large executive branch entities are themselves the problem.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Like I said before...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This is a SHAME!!!
I will have DMV cross reference their faces with the TSA full body scanner systems to help make sure I can find high quality candidates.... because... terrorism! I mean... just think of the children!!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Warrents
So more taxpayer money spent on compensation, less on roads, schools, health, fire, police, military, etc. we taxpayers pay when police make a mistake, we pay more when a corrupt official can abuse the system, without leaving a trace in the system,
So Warrants get in the way of the dishonest official and that the problem with them
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: This is a SHAME!!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]