Amazon.com Knows, Predicts Shopping Habits

Re:a good thing
HIPPA stands for the Health Insurance Portability Act and the privacy provisions that it contains only apply to medical records. They would not apply to some store in your town.

Patient information is more public than you think.

From Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau’s film, Side Effects:

“Where is Dr Schmidt in terms of Festril prescriptions?”

“He’s at 2%.”

“Why isn’t he on board yet?”

“He likes to wait at least one year before prescribing any new drugs. It’s a safety issue and he likes to reserve quinolones for compromised patients.”

“What kind of idiot would reserve the most effective drug on the market? What’s his reason?”

“Well, because last year, you know, when we didn’t have our own quinolones to sell, we were calling him an idiot for using such a big gun when it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”

“Oh, it looks like you did your job a little too well last year. Have you invited him out to corporate yet?”

“No, but…”

“OK. I want him flown out to corporate. Also make sure he is signed up for the upcoming webcast with Dr Sing. I want you in his office twice a week for the next three. Got it?”

Slattery-Moschkau told the BMJ that when sales reps went into doctors’ offices, they were “armed and dangerous” with prescribing information on each doctor. “They know what percentage of Prozac or Paxil a doctor prescribes,” she said. “The doctor often doesn’t know this and it gives [reps] an incredible advantage over the doctor.”

When doctors do find out that every single drug they prescribe has been tracked and sold “for millions of dollars” to drug companies, they can “go ballistic,” said one drug company insider who asked to remain anonymous. Telling a doctor about the existence of these prescription tracking lists, he said, was “not a good career move.”

“This story is actually my story,” said Slattery-Moschkau, adding that the tactics employed by the industry in its “dangerous pursuit” of profits sometimes came “at the expense of patients’ lives.”