Dec 19, 2006 Author Unknown Insidebayarea.com

Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay for a study involving a computer program that would give doctors, pharmacists, and in some cases law officers online access to medical records.

It’s an attempt to curb the abuse of prescription narcotics by monitoring drug distribution in a way that would enable a doctor or pharmacist to find out the last time — and from whom — a patient received a prescription for Vicodin, Oxycontin or other addictive drugs.

However, it also raises serious privacy concerns.

The test has the support of the attorney general’s office, California Board of Pharmacy and state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, sponsor of SB 734, a bill that authorized this study for a real-time system.

The idea originated with Bob Pack of Danville, whose two children were killed by a drug- and alcohol-abusing driver in 2003. Jimena Barreto had reportedly received Vicodin prescriptions from several doctors who later said they didn’t know she had essentially gone shopping for the drug.

Proponents say this system would make it harder to get such additional prescriptions and raise doctor, pharmacy and patient accountability.

Once the study is completed, Torlakson would have to take it back to the Legislature for further consideration before it could become permanent.

But enacting such a program carries a big price. This experiment affects the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, which for many is sacred. Once that gate is opened or compromised, it could lead to other personal medical data being revealed to government and perhaps private industry.

A similar system failed in Florida for that reason — it would have made medical records more susceptible to breaches and unfairly targeted pain sufferers and their doctors.

Skeptics also are concerned about who would run and administer such a program, and how it would be paid for. It could be expensive.

Frankly, this is a slippery slope that we shouldn’t start down. Once medical groups and physicians start sharing information about patients with law enforcement, where does it end?

Is the addiction problem and harm it combats worth compromising the privacy of doctor-patient relationships? Currently, such information about one’s health, the drugs one takes, etc. are private matters that can’t be shared with outsiders and government without your permission. There are a multitude of reasons that such data could be used to spawn Big Brother scenarios.

Sharing such information compromises patient relationships with physicians and HMOs. We may be interested in the study’s results, but wouldn’t want to be part of it. We don’t think this information should be shared with law enforcement or other government forces without the patient’s knowledge and permission, either for study purposes or for real.

We also wonder how many doctors would agree to it. We hope it would be few.

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