Pol: Pharmacies sell off your data - Newsday.com: "Randee Lonergan filled prescriptions at the same pharmacy for years. But a month ago, she was shocked to find the pharmacy closed - and all her family's medical records sold to a nearby Target store in Levittown.

Shockingly, her information was sold legally, due to a loophole in medical privacy law that allows pharmacies to 'auction off' years of customer records -- including prescriptions, information about medical conditions, social security numbers and insurance records -- 'to the highest bidder,' Senator Charles Schumer said Monday.

'I'm outraged,' said Lonergan, 34. 'I felt that my right to privacy and my right to choose had been taken away from me.'

Not only were her records sold, so were her husband's and 8-year-old daughter's.

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers' records may have already been sold, Schumer said, and the problem is nationwide. Federal law requires doctors to let patients know when their medical history is being shared. But the law explicitly allows pharmacies to sell patient information to other pharmacies, Schumer said.

'It is outrageous that companies can get away with revealing what prescription medications New Yorkers have taken and not even notify the customer,' Schumer said. The senator is calling on the federal Health and Human Services secretary, Michael Leavitt, to immediately change the law to require pharmacies to notify patients before selling or transferring their records and allowing patients to opt out.

For her part, Lonergan is not taking the sale of her prescription records lying down. The Levittown resident plans to sue for violation of privacy and deceptive business practices.

'People have a fundamental right to privacy,' said Stefanie Ovadia, Lonergan's attorney. 'Bottom line, the loophole needs to be closed.'"

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