The U.S. Supreme Court recently found Vermont’s data privacy law restricting data mining to be unconstitutional, a win for data mining and pharmaceutical companies. Finding that “speech in the aid of pharmaceutical marketing” is a form of expression protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court struck the state law which prohibited pharmacies from selling or disclosing prescriber-identifying information gleaned from prescription records. This ruling has important implications for other state laws restricting prescription data mining, including for instance, Maine’s data mining law. For more information, click here.

by Nicole Ibboston