Patient data mining must be stopped

I am writing to share my concern with our community about the harmful practice of pharmaceutical company data mining, which threatens patient safety, drives up our health-care costs and violates the privacy of patients and physicians across our state.

The Prescription Privacy Bill (House Bill 3774/Senate Bill 6241) would stop pharmaceutical companies from using our personal information for marketing purposes.

Studies show that data mining leads to inappropriate prescribing of expensive, new drugs when more affordable, and sometimes safer, alternatives exist. And according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an overwhelming majority of physicians disapprove of the practice.

Why should patients, employers and taxpayers pay higher prescription costs just so pharmaceutical companies can reap the profits?

Joe Dukes