Supreme Court skeptical that prescription data laws don’t violate free speech - The Washington Post

Supreme Court skeptical that prescription data laws don’t violate free speech - The Washington Post

Yet another example of no common sense being driven by big business.

Here's how it works.  You're ill.  You go see your doctor.  Your doctor prescribes medicine.  Now the prescription goes to your pharmacy.  The pharmacy fills the prescription.  Now here's where it gets interesting.  The pharmacy sells the prescription data to drug companies.  It strips out your identity but leaves in the doctor's identity.  The drug company, now armed with the prescription history of your doctor, knows whether your doctor uses less expensive drugs or generics or the drug companies' branded drug.  Thus armed the drug company can focus their marketing to promote their drug.

The case if being litigated as a business free speech case.  Common Sense wonders, to what degree is business marketing that potentially increases medical cost "free speech" under law?  Does business have a "free speech" interest in what doctors prescribe for their patients?  Common Sense thinks not. 

While marketing may well be speech, free speech does not include an inherent right to know what a doctor prescribes.  Quite the contrary, Common Sense thinks that doctors have a privacy interest in their prescription practices every bit as much as patients have a privacy interest in their drug use.

In addition all of us, government included, have an interest in the cost of medical care.  It doesn't make any sense, never mind common sense, to appeal to "free speech" when trying to justify a business practice that is clearly intended to increase drug profits by favoring branded drugs over generic and simply increases drug costs and the cost of medical care. 

Why do Americans spend more for and get less medical care?  Common Sense thinks that this bit of foolishness is part of the problem.