Privacy protections and law enforcement use of prescription drug monitoring databases

Abstract

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are databases that can be used by healthcare professionals to identify problematic drug-seeking behavior. Law enforcement officers can also obtain PDMP information, raising significant privacy concerns. In this paper, I use regression analysis to explore the association between state PDMP protections and law enforcement information requests. I find that while requiring law enforcement to meet a specified standard of proof prior to accessing PDMP information is associated with fewer requests, other methods of regulating law enforcement access are not. These findings provide important and novel evidence about law enforcement behavior in response to privacy protections.