title: Sorrell v. IMS Health: issues and opportunities for informaticians.
abstract: In 2011, the US Supreme Court decided Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc., a case that addressed the mining of large aggregated databases and the sale of prescriber data for marketing prescription drugs. The court struck down a Vermont law that required data mining companies to obtain permission from individual providers before selling prescription records that included identifiable physician prescription information to pharmaceutical companies for drug marketing. The decision was based on constitutional free speech protections rather than data sharing considerations. Sorrell illustrates challenges at the intersection of biomedical informatics, public health, constitutional liberties, and ethics. As states, courts, regulatory agencies, and federal bodies respond to Sorrell, informaticians' expertise can contribute to more informed, ethical, and appropriate policies.
authors.affiliation: Global Business Solutions, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. petersen.carolyn@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demuro
authors.forename: Kenneth W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D057225:Data Mining / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D040541:Marketing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D035521:Supreme Court Decisions; D014481:United States; D014707:Vermont