Utah prescription drug database fight coming to appeals court

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The case of two Utah firefighters who said authorities falsely accused them of prescription drug fraud after searching their medical records in a database is set to come before a federal appeals court Tuesday.

Lawyers for the pair argue that giving police unlimited access to all prescription drug records in Utah is unconstitutional.

The database in question is similar to those used in several states. The Utah case could set a precedent for states that don't require police to get a warrant, their attorney Scott Michelman of the group Public Citizen has said. He compares putting names into the database without probable cause to kicking down people's doors and rifling through their medicine cabinets.

Utah authorities, though, contend that the database helps curb a growing abuse problem by helping investigators identify doctors who overprescribe painkillers and people who go to multiple doctors looking for drugs.

The firefighters are asking the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to revive a lawsuit that was dismissed last year.

Prescription drugs have long been a tightly regulated industry, and there's no expectation that those records are shielded from police, defense attorneys for the Salt Lake City suburb of Cottonwood Heights have argued.

Utah has since passed a law requiring a warrant, partly as a result of the firefighters' case. The measure has drawn pushback from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is suing to get warrantless access for its agents.

Before Utah's law went into effect last year, the database was being used thousands of times a year. The number of searches has since plummeted; police said it takes too long to get a warrant.

Nearly 20 other states also require police to jump through some hoops to access the databases.

The firefighters sued after detectives investigating ambulance drug thefts in 2013 ran the names of all firefighters in their department through the database, suspecting an employee with a drug problem might be involved.

Ryan Pyle and Marlon Jones weren't linked to the thefts, but authorities alleged they were taking too many medications without telling their doctors and filed fraud charges against them.

The cases were dismissed after the firefighters showed all the drugs were properly prescribed, but they said the charges nevertheless still put their careers and personal lives in jeopardy.