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Medical Privacy is Important
Andrei SP Brennan

Posted on: 08 March 2004

Posted on: (8 March 2004)

Medical Privacy is Important
Andrei SP Brennan, Clinical Epidemiology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, QC, R 4.35, 87 Pine Ave W, H3A 1A1
The use and abuse of OxyContin is a growing concern in Canada (1). There has been particular concern about OxyContin abuse in Nova Scotia (2). A recent article by Murray Brewster from Canadian Press discusses how police and pharmacists in Nova Scotia would like to see a province- wide database established to track users of narcotic medications prescribed for pain relief, particularly those drugs containing OxyContin (3...
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The use and abuse of OxyContin is a growing concern in Canada (1). There has been particular concern about OxyContin abuse in Nova Scotia (2). A recent article by Murray Brewster from Canadian Press discusses how police and pharmacists in Nova Scotia would like to see a province- wide database established to track users of narcotic medications prescribed for pain relief, particularly those drugs containing OxyContin (3). This would enable then to reduce the practice of “double doctoring”.
In general, the use of drug databases by primary care physicians can be used to improve the quality of patient care and ensure that patients are not exposed to dangerous drug interactions (4). However, it is important that the privacy of the patients in the database be protected. If patients are concerned that the police may have access to such a database, patients suffering from chronic pain may be less likely to seek medical care for legitimate chronic pain.
A good first step would be a study of the actual effectiveness of such a database in the detection of double doctoring. This would be a critical first step before it would be possible to even consider violating the privacy of patients seeking medical care. Drug addiction is a serious matter but it does not justify the unethical violation of medical privacy, even when done with the best of intentions.
Andrei SP Brennan, MA, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec
JAC Delaney, MA, MSc, Statistican, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec
1. OxyContin class-action suit to proceed. CMAJ 2003; 169(7):699.
2. Moulton D. "Hillbilly heroin" arrives in Cape Breton. CMAJ. 2003;168(9):1172.
3. Brewster M. Pharmacists request double doctoring cure. The Chronicle Herald. Nova Scotia. March 7, 2004.
4.Tamblyn R, Huang A, Perreault R, Jacques A, Roy D, Hanley J, McLeod P and Laprise R. The medical office of the 21st century (MOXXI): effectiveness of computerized decision-making support in reducing inappropriate prescribing in primary care. CMAJ. 2003;169(6):549-56.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.