States have long kept centralized databases to monitor prescriptions for potentially addictive drugs.
Now,abortion pillsare being monitored in the same way in some parts of the US.
Last May, Louisiana passed a law to monitormisoprostolandmifepristone, the two pills commonly used to induceabortions.
Bamboo Health, the company running Louisiana’s prescription monitoring database, is ready to track thedrugs.
The employee asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters.
Texas, Indiana, and Idaho are considering similar measures for tracking these drugs.
All three states work with Bamboo.
Bamboo Health CEO Jeff Smith told BI that the company’s prescription monitoring platform must comply with state regulations.
“They determine how that data is managed and accessed.
That’s how it gets treated in Louisiana and anywhere else it would occur,” he said.
Misoprostol isn’t just for abortions.
Prescription monitoring programs, or PMPs, are routinely used to investigate doctors for wrongdoing.
Some experts worry reproductive medicine could share the same fate.
“It’s going to have a chilling effect on medical care.
We’re already seeing it.”
Most states now require doctors to check them before writing certain kinds of prescriptions.
Private health information is usually protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
But when controlled substance prescriptions are reported to the state, they loseHIPAAprotections.
Without those safeguards, third parties can reach the data without patient consent.
Under various conditions, law enforcement can also enter the prescription data.
The list of drugs that PMPs monitor, as well as the details they collect, has steadily grown.
Managing this growing mountain of sensitive prescription data became a big business for Bamboo Health.
Bamboo was founded as Appriss in 1994 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Its first product was a data-aggregation and notification tool that informed victims when their offenders were released from prison.
The tool became a $30 million business serving 48 states.
Bamboo Health is now an independent company separated from other business lines built long ago under the Appriss name.
Today, PMPs earn money directly from states and, in some cases, hospitals themselves.
Smith declined to comment on the company’s financials.
The business has attracted large investors.
The deal valued the combined company at more than $1.5 billion.
Over the last several years, PMPs have assisted regulators in busting pill-mill networks and curbing severe prescribing patterns.
Bamboo even helped the feds hold pharmaceutical distributors accountable for their role in the opioid crisis.
Still, it’s not clear that PMPs have reduced patient harm overall.
“It’s just to equip somebody with some information to make a better decision.”
Bamboo’s newest directive to monitor abortion medications may test this hands-off approach.
The person asked not to be identified because they were not authorized by Bamboo to speak to the media.
Some states have aggressively enforced abortion bans, putting new pressure on some doctors.
Idaho and Texas let private citizens sue virtually anyone who performs or assists with an abortion.
These so-called bounty-hunter laws award $10,000 or more to successful plaintiffs.
Pregnant individuals in Louisiana are not subject to criminal prosecution for obtaining and using these drugs for self-managed abortions.
But the doctors and pharmacists involved are another story.
Officials could then seek access to PMP data for that investigation, per Seigel.
She’s concerned that tracking misoprostol and mifepristone prescriptions could have a similar effect on doctors' decisions.
Previously,obstetrician-gynecologistsoften carried misoprostol in their pockets for emergencies.
Now, the medicine must be stored in locked cabinets.
In the case of severe postpartum hemorrhaging, mere minutes could be the difference between life and death.
Some outpatient pharmacies have decided to stop stocking the pills altogether, Avegno added.
The introduction of mifepristone and misoprostol monitoring via Bamboo’s database could add to that fear.
“Let’s say I’m an OB.
I have a busy clinic.
And that’s now going to be tracked in the PMP,” Avegno said.
That’s too many.
Let’s investigate her.'"
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