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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah authorities say police didn't violate the rights of two firefighters when they accessed their prescription records without a warrant during an investigation into ambulance drug thefts.
Lawyers for the city of Cottonwood Heights argue that a state prescription drug database helps curb a growing abuse problem, and police didn't need a warrant to use it during the 2013 investigation.
More than 40 states have similar databases and many don't require police to get a warrant.
The Utah firefighters contend in a lawsuit that police used the records to falsely accuse them of fraud unconnected to theft investigation. The charges were later dismissed, but they say that giving police unlimited access to the database is unconstitutional.
Utah has since passed a law requiring a warrant, partly as a result of the firefighters' case.
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