People often take their right to medical privacy for granted. There are numerous state and federal privacy statutes that help protect people from the inappropriate disclosure of their private medical information. Patients are often aware that they have to sign paperwork if another adult wants to review their medical records.
Some people assume that regulatory officials should not have any access to their medical information without a warrant or subpoena. However, that simply isn’t true. There are regulatory standards that allow the state to track certain types of prescription medications. Individuals taking prescribed drugs in Georgia are subject to oversight and could be at risk of prosecution in cases where their medical history indicates they may have broken the law.
What does Georgia do to track medication?
State authorities monitor the prescribing practices of individual physicians and also the prescriptions used by individual patients. The state has a centralized database that specifically tracks high-risk substances. Powerful pain relievers are among the substances that receive the most attention from regulatory authorities.
In cases where patients may engage in inappropriate conduct to obtain prescriptions, Georgia’s monitoring programs could identify that behavior. If a patient goes to see different doctors in different counties without disclosing prior appointments and prescriptions, the state might eventually notice that they filled multiple prescriptions for the same substance in a short amount of time. That may lead to an investigation out of concern that they may intend to divert those drugs to others.
Doctors can also access a database before providing a first-time prescription for a dangerous drug to see if the patient receives the same medication from another doctor. Doing so helps them avoid accusations of improper dispensation practices. Medications including benzodiazepines and opiate/opioid medications usually require a review of the database before an initial prescription.
Those accused of improperly accessing prescription medications or lying to physicians could be at risk of prosecution. The right to medical privacy does not take precedence over law enforcement and public safety. That being said, charges brought based solely on database entries and a doctor’s suspicions may not have a basis in material reality.
Discussing a situation that has led to Georgia drug charges with a skilled legal team can help people evaluate their options for defending themselves. Prescription charge defense strategies often require careful preparation if people hope to avoid a conviction.