CCHC Hails Defeat of MN Senate's Prescription Electronic Reporting System

Saint Paul, Minnesota - The following is a statement by Twila Brase, president of Citizens' Council on Health Care, regarding this evening's defeat of Senator Berglin's amendment to Senate File 3132, the data practices bill. The amendment would have established a state prescription tracking program. Data collected by state government would have included detailed data on patients who receive and physicians who prescribe legal pain medications.

"We are pleased that our concerns about the Prescription Electronic Reporting System were heard.

"Patients have been spared from painful days and painful nights. Physicians will be much more willing to adequately treat the patient's pain now that they know regulatory agencies and law enforcement aren't going to be fishing through private medical data looking for potential criminals in every doctor's office.

"The public's right to a confidential patient-doctor relationship took a step in the right direction today. This was a win for patients. This was a win for privacy.

"Our thanks go out to every Senator who voted to keep government out of the practice of pain management."