When some Florida residents popped open their mailboxes early this summer, a privacy scandal exploded. They had received sampling packs of once-a-week Prozac pills in the mail even though they hadn’t asked their doctors to prescribe the antidepressant.
One of the recipients filed a lawsuit against Prozac maker Eli Lilly & Co., Walgreens Co., the chain that mailed the drugs, and the physicians who prescribed them.
Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth is investigating. Lilly denied knowledge of the mailings, blaming a group of overeager salesmen, who ended up being suspended.
But the public relations damage had been done, and it is only likely to strengthen the hand of critics who favor tougher restrictions on use of medical data.
Those critics have already claimed some key victories. In August, for one, the Bush administration finalized rules for the most sweeping privacy legislation in existence.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will, among other things, require patients’ written authorization before they can be sent marketing materials.
News reports on the bill stress that some of the regulations
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