Data Mining

Physicians know all too well that the pharmaceutical reps have data about our prescribing patterns long before they come for a visit. But the state of New Hampshire has been trying to outlaw the data mining of prescription information the drug companies use to provide this information to the reps.

Unfortunately, the federal court struck down a 2006 state law that barred data-miners from using patients’ prescription drug information to directly market pharmaceuticals to physicians.

This ruling in April from U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro in Concord, N.H., said the law is a violation of constitutional guarantees of free speech. The suit was filed by two plaintiffs, data-miners Verispan, Yardley, Pa., and IMS Health, Norwalk, Conn.

The process goes like this; prescription data information is sold by drugstores to data-miners, who then refine the data and sell it to drug companies. The drug companies use the data to arm their sales representatives when they “detail” their drugs to doctors.

Many states would like to curb the multibillion-dollar healthcare data-mining industry but this ruling will cause some to reconsider. New Hampshire is planning an appeal.

New Hampshire officials believe the ruling will prove hurtful for residents and physicians and can prove harmful to the doctor patient relationship. They also believe it increases overall healthcare costs.

Some of the arguments centered on the fact that the transfer of prescription data was not speech, and that even if it were, it was not protected, given that there exists a lower standard for commercial speech than private speech.

The appeal is said to be straightforward with the process involving the filing with the District Court which then gets forwarded to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.