PDMP searches by law enforcement – Twitter thread from Health in Justice Action Lab @HiJAction
New from @ACLU_Mass & our lab: We FOIA’d @MassDPH for instances of law enforcement searching patients’ Prescription Drug Monitoring data. We found Federal, State, and Local law enforcement conducted thousands of searches of sensitive patient medical records. /1
Mass. State law enforcement conducted the most searches (5,000+). These data show what substances patients are prescribed, from hormones to opioids.
Doctors/pharmacists use data to inform practice, but so does law enforcement to build cases. /2
Below is a chart showing over 2,000 law enforcement searches for prescriber & pharmacy data.
Doctors’ prescribing is under increased scrutiny from the DEA. There are documented “chilling effects,”e.g. patients being abandoned, unable to access care or re-fill their Rx. /3
This graph compares searches for MAVEN (web-based surveillance system) and the MassPAT PDMP system. Law enforcement has searched these data, which contain sensitive clinical information, over 14,000 times. /4
Data and graphics brought to you by @onekade, @ACLU_Mass, and researchers at @HiJAction, @LeoBeletsky, @AnnieBoustead, @ZachWritesStuff, @bowlinearl & @natematia. Stay tuned for
more reports about patient privacy in the age of mass surveillance and the overdose crisis. /fin
EDS and Chronic Pain News & Info 
In spite of these searches the deaths from illicit drug poisonings are going up exponentially while legitimate opioid prescriptions are falling. I guess the investigators don’t know what to look for.
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They’re looking at prescribed medicine instead of illicit drug use. Drug dealers don’t register their sales in the PDMP.
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I really wish I could get rid of the images of drug dealers laughing their (increasingly successful & un-pressured) asses off!
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Great – now the images are in my head too!
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well hell, my friend: sorry about that! Maybe we can turn the vile image into something different…like, if our lives had taken different courses & we’d had personality & morality transplants, we too could be illegal drug dealers enjoying the hell out of these new days! Ain’t it fun?!?!
didja see these two gems: (one sorta positive, one reeeeeallly not)?:
https://www.foxnews.com/health/as-opioids-become-taboo-doctors-taper-down-or-abandon-pain-patients-driving-many-to-suicide?fbclid=IwAR0j6izUYiR4N91zHaMJIZB7aAV3yGMdv5FQoQaBP33RrR0geE7ihiJxYp0
The really bad:
https://www.wkbw.com/news/roswell-park-to-implement-radical-opioid-reduction-policy-in-2019
(somehow I’m not surprised that the first conditions they mention about nixing pain meds are gynecological).
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Yes, the first one is great – I’ll probably post it when I get home. The 2nd one is scary. I think they’re going to run into a revolt when the start treating cancer without opioids for the pain.
Cancer pain has always been “special”, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this crosses a line. Then again, they’ve crossed so many lines by now, like interfering in the practice of medicine.
I’m really surprised that the AMA didn’t speak up sooner. This finally proves they don’t give a hoot about patients, as we’ve always suspected.
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Reblogged this on The War on Chronic Pain Patients.
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I would love to know the date ranges that these searches occurred in. It says the FOIA was filed in 2017 and then the range says 2016-2018 but this year isn’t over yet. I assume this information was just recently released to the ACLU, and I look forward to learning more information about this.
Thank you for sharing this information, I always know that your site will have about anything I am looking for!
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Thank you for your compliment!
I’m not sure about the dates either. Any data for 2018 would have to be preliminary and incomplete. I’m sure law enforcement looks at PDMPs all the time since they don’t even need a warrant for it.
They just peruse it to find the top prescribers and then raid the doctors’ offices in full battle gear, like it was a drug cartel they were after, not a doctor with a waiting room full of patients.
They’re too frightened to chase real drug dealers, so they do armchair searches and “safe” drug-busts where they don’t have to face anyone dangerous. Doctors don’t shoot back, drug dealers do.
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This specifically undermines the 4th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Welcome to The Police State Of America!
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Yes, that’s what it looks like to me.
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