H.R. 3015

[question]

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and state licensure boards already have great powers. They currently can get information on prescriptions written for controlled substances and have sweeping authority to investigate anybody they choose and to prosecute doctors for prescribing more painkillers than agents think appropriate.

HR 3015 would dramatically enhance the reach of police and DEA agents into the privacy of doctors and patients.

Some government officials liken doctors to terrorists, and want equal judicial vigor in pursuing doctors. For example, according to a September press release from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Rossi declared to a reporter that "our office will try our best to root out [certain doctors] like the Taliban. Stay tuned."

In opposition to the bill, Rep. Ron Paul, M.D., of Texas said HR 3015 "is yet another unjustifiable attempt by the federal government to use the war on drugs as an excuse for invading the privacy and liberties of the American people and for expanding the federal government's disastrous micromanagement of medical care."

He pointed out that the government is embarking on a "war on pain patients and their doctors" that "has already resulted in the harassment and prosecution of many doctors ... whose only 'crime' is prescribing legal medication ... to relieve their patients' pain. These prosecutions, in turn, have scared other doctors so that they are unwilling to prescribe an adequate amount of pain medication, or even any pain medication, for their suffering patients."

Could it be that government agents are going after innocent and hard-working doctors because the doctors are easy targets? Are real criminals going free because these same government agents find it too much work to break through the complicated logistic and legal defenses that real criminals sometimes build and hide behind?

Rather than giving non-medical officials more authority, power and money, Congress and the president should restrain the DEA from essentially telling doctors how to practice medicine.

Rather than using resources to send trained actors feigning pain to entrap doctors, the DEA and other agencies should communicate and cooperate with doctors.

To further this goal, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) recently developed a three-point "Communicate and Cooperate" proposal to encourage physicians and law enforcement to work together to prevent prescription drug abuse. The proposal includes several ways law enforcement agents can work with doctors, such as:

1. Working together to track suspected drug abusers. To balance current laws requiring doctors to provide information about suspected abusers to the government, government agencies would notify doctors about suspicious patient behavior such as contact with known drug dealers or abusers.

2. Reviewing possible cases with professional medical boards before filing charges in court. Doctors would review a physician's practice with police before non-medical prosecutors would file criminal charges. This would help prevent embarrassing errors by government agents and would prevent worsening the current shortage of doctors willing to adequately treat patients with chronic and painful medical conditions.

3. Mutual training of law enforcement and medical personnel. Law enforcement people would educate doctors about recognizing patterns of illegal activity and criminal intent; doctors would educate police about modern pain treatment.

And why is the U.S. Senate vote scheduled for only a "yea" or "nay" voice vote, without recording which senator voted which way? One reason is so that senators can't be held to account for their votes.

As Rep. Paul says, "Instead of further eroding our medical privacy, Congress should take steps to protect it."

Please let your senators know what you think, before it's too late.

[taken from: NewsMax]

It's fantastic to know that stuff like this is even on the floor. It absolutely astounds me that the government is even considering doing this. I believe I will be writing my congressman about this.

[Adam D]

I think dealing with drug abuse as a public health issue rather than a criminal issue is a great idea. But this doesn't seem to be that at all. Rather, it just seems like a way for further criminalization to occur, and for conservative doctors to crusade against drug use in the worst possible way.

If people suspect their doctors will hand them over, or hand over privledged information to law enforcement, they are less likely to be honest about their problems with the very people who are in a position to help them the most.

I see this bill as standing completely against existing law and precedent. It would break doctor-patient confidentiality, as well as completely disregard the federal HIPAA laws designed to protect medical information.

[matt]

hipaa laws are very stringent, we deal with them every day. i am not allowed to even use the name of a patient that is ordering medication as a PO#, as it is highly confidential information. i see this as another breach to our right to privacy, just like the original patriot act, and the upcoming patriot act 2...what a scary place this country has become, where nothing is private any longer, not even our flatulance medications down at the local pharmacy...

[question]

Czech it out.

Yesterday, a bill was pre-filed with the Texas House of Representatives for a law stating that pharmacists can refuse to fill the morning after pill, and birth control on moral grounds.

Our health has fallen out of the hands of the people educated and qualified to diagnose and treat, to the hands of the religious zealots who think their faith supercedes medicine.

Originally Posted by matt

hipaa laws are very stringent, we deal with them every day. i am not allowed to even use the name of a patient that is ordering medication as a PO#, as it is highly confidential information. i see this as another breach to our right to privacy, just like the original patriot act, and the upcoming patriot act 2...what a scary place this country has become, where nothing is private any longer, not even our flatulance medications down at the local pharmacy...

Originally Posted by question

Czech it out.

Yesterday, a bill was pre-filed with the Texas House of Representatives for a law stating that pharmacists can refuse to fill the morning after pill, and birth control on moral grounds.

Our health has fallen out of the hands of the people educated and qualified to diagnose and treat, to the hands of the religious zealots who think their faith supercedes medicine.

This'll piss some one off....

A pharmacy doesn't have to sell anything to anyone. This law is a nothing more than a back slapping measure for some social conservatives.