Five Before Chaos

It’s really amazing that we’ve made it this far. There’s more FISA stuff going on in the Senate today, with a variety of amendments being considered, and apparently some that could actually be quite detrimental to national security (see the latest on that here). So, if you live in a state that has one of these potentially flippable Senators, it’s not too late and very important that you give ‘em a call and ask them to do the right thing:

• Bayh (202) 224-5623 phone, (202) 228-1377 fax
• Byrd (202) 224-3954 phone, (202) 228-0002 fax
• Carper (202) 224-2441 phone, (202) 228-2190 fax
• Feinstein (202) 224-3841 phone, (202) 228-3954 fax
• Inouye (202) 224-3934 phone, (202) 224-6747 fax
• Johnson (202) 224-5842 phone, (605) 341-2207 fax
• Kohl (202) 224-5653 (202) 224-9787
• Landrieu (202)224-5824 phone, (202) 224-9735 fax
• Lincoln (202) 224-4843 phone, (202) 228-1371 fax
• McCaskill (202) 224-6154 phone, (202) 228-6326 fax
• Mikulski (202) 224-4654 phone, (202) 224-8858 fax
• Nelson (FL) (202) 224-5274 phone, (202) 228-2183 fax
• Nelson (NE) (202) 224-6551 phone, (202) 228-0012 fax
• Pryor (202) 224-2353 phone, (202) 228-0908 fax
• Rockefeller, (202) 224-6472 phone, (202) 224-7665 fax
• Salazar (202) 224-5852 phone, (202) 228-5036 fax
• Stabenow (202) 224-4822 phone, (202) 228-0325 fax
• Chambliss (202) 224-3521 phone, (202) 224-0103 fax
• Coleman (202) 224-5641 phone, (202) 224-1152 fax
• Collins (202) 224-2523 phone, (202) 224-2693 fax
• Dole (202) 224-6342 phone, (202) 224-1100 fax
• Graham (202) 224-5972 phone, (202) 224-3808 fax
• Lieberman (202) 224-4041 phone, (202) 224-9750 fax
• McCain (202) 224-2235 phone, (202) 228-2862 fax
• Smith (202) 224-3753 phone, (202) 228-3997 fax
• Snowe (202) 224-5344 phone, (202) 224-1946 fax
• Sununu (202) 224-2841 phone, (202) 228-4131 fax
• Warner (202) 224-2023 phone, (202) 224-6295 fax

It may sound alarmist to some, but there’s been some rather chilling developments in the realm of public surveillance lately that you should know about. I’ve mentioned earlier about the latest from the Department of Homeland Security for a spy satellite program, which they assure us, “won’t be used to spy on Americans”.

Even more chilling, like something out of the sci-fi flick “Minority Report” is the WaPo story that lets us know about a new program that the FBI is up to:

The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world’s largest computer database of peoples’ physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.

More below the jump…

Continue reading

Well, then. Tee VT State Police have now confessed to visiting three pharmacies and improperly collecting pharmacy records. And the cop on the Mark Johnson show the other day was full of shit. GMD has more.

Finally, Dan Barlow of the Vermont Press Bureau has written an excellent story in the Times Argus today about the VT State Police poking into your pharmacy records, aptly dubbed “Fishing Derby Friday”.

Fairfax Pharmacy owner Rick Hogle said he refused to hand over a list of his customers prescribed schedule-two drugs, which include medications such as oxycodone, when asked by a state police trooper who was investigating the spread of such drugs on the street.

Hogle, a pharmacist for 16 years, said he felt caught between protecting the privacy of his customers and assisting law enforcement in stopping the illegal sale and use of these medications.

“I’m not going to release patient information,” Hogle said. “The woman from the state police was very polite and did not throw her weight around, but unless they get a court order, I’m not going to release this information.”

Props to Mr. Hogle for doing the right thing. The chattering behind the scenes on this indicates that this story is not over. It’ll be curious as to whether Douglas did indeed have a hand in it. What did he know and when did he know it?

Also, an interesting update from GMD:

UPDATE: Based on confirmation from law enforcement sources, pharmacies that were approached by the State Police on Friday November 30th and from legal sources representing people affected by State Police conduct last Friday, GMD can add the following to the reporting that has occurred already.

* The Department of Public Safety was planning last weeks pharmacy checks (“Fishing Derby Friday”) for several weeks.
* The State Police visited multiple pharmacies on Friday November 30th.
* At least two pharmacies were told to by the State Police to turn over patient profiles for every patient who received a schedule II prescription from that pharmacy.
* At least one pharmacy was told it would be required to update the patient profile information with the police every two weeks.
* At several pharmacies the police merely introduced themselves to the pharmacist, gave their business cards and asked the pharmacist to call the police officer if they encountered any suspicious behavior such as indications of “Doctor shopping” or prescription fraud.
* Late Friday, due to intense push back and complaints from pharmacists who were concerned about requests from the Vermont State Police that they reveal confidential and federally protected medical information about their customers, State Police management sent an email to all State Police involved with the pharmacy checks throughout the state instructing them to cease the pharmacy checks. After the email went out, Fish Derby Friday ceased (for now).

How does this fall under “to protect and serve”?

Well, this story about the VT State Police going into pharmacy records that I let you know about is starting to get some legs. The AP is working on it now. This is a big story folks.

A few more updates for you . Juliewolf has an excellent diary over at Kos on it right now, “Kiss your 4th amendment goodbye: VT State Police collect medical data”… have a read and give it some rec’s so it stays on the front page longer. Also, more at GMD about this story in regards to the confusion as to whether or not pharmacists need to comply with this…Police Pharmacy Data Collection: Must Pharmacists Cooperate? Depends on Who You Ask…

Another great read – Maia Szalavitz over at HuffPo, with Cops Become Drugstore Cowboys in Vermont; 4th Amendment Officially Dead:

Just contemplate for a moment how much information your complete prescription records give to the police. From this data, the cops can tell if you suffer depression, HIV, anxiety, herpes, impotence, cancer and many other disorders many people prefer not to broadcast. If there is any information that should be protected from warrantless fishing expeditions, it’s gotta be your pharmacy records. If the supposed health care privacy act HIPAA is anything more than a paperwork tree-killing bonanza, it must prohibit this ridiculous type of data mining. But Vermont pharmacists are being told that it doesn’t.

Even politicians have gotta wonder: do I really want the state looking at my Viagra script?

It’s funny, with all of the constant accusations from the right about the Dems being the “nanny’ party, they seem to forget the very prescient fact that the Republicans are undoubtedly the “Big Brother” party. What’s worse? As more develops on this story, I’ll put it here and of course, keep checking GMD.

A BIG story just broke over at GMD that should be of concern to all Vermonters. Apparently, the VT State Police are going around to pharmacies and collecting personal data about what prescriptions you’ve taken out:

GMD has learned that State Police representatives are going to Vermont Pharmacies amd demanding complete dumps of all information about patients with Schedule II prescriptions (the class of medications that include prescription drugs with street value). After talking to a few pharmacists, I found one in Franklin County that confirmed they had been approached, and had been advised by the state that they did, indeed need to comply with the request. Needless to say, he wasn’t too happy about it.

What’s even more disturbing? When I asked if he knew of any other pharmacies that were being mined for data in this way, he responded that it was his understanding that this was a process that was to take place across the state.

This means that the State Police is actively putting together a database of medical records of Vermonters across the state for the purpose of, as this pharmacist opined, “fishing expeditions.”

Truly disturbing. This is only the beginning of this stoty. I’ll have more as I get it.