CVS, Rite Aid, and Kroger are handing over your pharmacy records to government agencies

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/investigation-finds-that-pharmacies-hand-medical-records-over-to-police-without-warrant/ar-AA1loXst

With much talk about HIPAA, and the protection of health information, this is an interesting little bomb.

It was revealed that CVS, Rite Aid, and Kroger will release your pharmacy information to police officers who come to the pharmacy to request it. No subpoena needed. No legal review needed. Just hand them on over.

The prescriptions a person takes is deeply private and personal. It is not the information that a non-medical person, such as a police officer, needs to have by merely walking into the pharmacy and just asking for it. If a legal case needs to obtain medical records, a subpoena that is signed by a judge for a legal reason pertaining to the investigation is one thing. But merely walking in and demanding someone’s records, that is not ok. Law enforcement is not held to HIPAA, only healthcare is. The police officers that reviewed that pharmacy information are not legally bound to keep their mouth shut about what they read.

And why would police need our pharmacy records? That is the truly overarching question here. And why would a pharmacy willingly hand them over without a subpoena to do so?