Privacy protections and law enforcement use of prescription drug monitoring databases

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are databases that can be used by healthcare professionals to identify problematic drug‐seeking behavior. Law enforcement officers can also obtain PDMP information, raising significant privacy concerns. In this paper, I use regression analysis to explore...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law & policy 2021-07, Vol.43 (3), p.229-261
Main Author: Boustead, Anne E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior problems
Burden of proof
Drugs
Health care
Health services
Law enforcement
Medical personnel
Police
Prescription drugs
Privacy
Standard of proof
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Summary:Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are databases that can be used by healthcare professionals to identify problematic drug‐seeking behavior. Law enforcement officers can also obtain PDMP information, raising significant privacy concerns. In this paper, I use regression analysis to explore the association between state PDMP protections and law enforcement information requests. I find that while requiring law enforcement to meet a specified standard of proof prior to accessing PDMP information is associated with fewer requests, other methods of regulating law enforcement access are not. These findings provide important and novel evidence about law enforcement behavior in response to privacy protections.
ISSN:0265-8240
1467-9930
DOI:10.1111/lapo.12174