DEA wants access to medical records — without warrant

mi writes: Unlike in cases of commerically-held data, where the Third Party doctrine allows police warrantless access, prescription drug monitoring databases are maintained by state-governments.

The difference is lost to the Obama Administration, which argues that "since the records have already been submitted to a third party (a state's PDMP) that patients no longer enjoy an expectation of privacy."

The DEA has claimed for years that under federal law it has the authority to access the states' prescription drug databases using only an “administrative subpoena.” These are unilaterally issued orders that do not require a showing of probable cause before a court, like what’s required to obtain a warrant.

Some states — like Oregon — fight it, some — like Wisconsin — do not.

The federal government is eager to see all these databases linked. The Department of Justice has developed a software platform to facilitate sharing among all state PDMPs. So far 32 states already share their PDMP data through a National Association of Boards of Pharmacy program.

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed Congress in March, calls for expanding sharing of PDMDBs.