Prescription-tracking system criticized over privacy concerns

An Iowa Board of Pharmacy Examiners plan to establish a computer system that would track prescriptions for controlled substances came under fire Tuesday by state lawmakers and critics who said it would invade the privacy of Iowa patients.

The board wants Iowa to join about 20 other states that are tracking controlled substances in an effort to crack down on the abuse of prescription drugs such as painkillers.

But some lawmakers compared the government-run system with "big brother," saying it could put patients' sensitive medical information in the wrong hands.

Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, said a record of the prescriptions Iowans take should not be in the hands of state government.

"Many citizens and legislators are rightfully concerned about protecting the confidentiality of their medical information and about the security of the proposed database itself," he said.

Now that the state is classifying the methamphetamine ingredient pseudoephedrine as a Schedule V controlled substance, purchases of cold and allergy medicine containing it also would be recorded by the proposed database.