A federal judge in Utah will allow the American Civil Liberties Union to participate in a lawsuit challenging law enforcement's access to the state's prescription drug record database, the advocacy group said Wednesday.
Chief Judge David Nuffer ruled in court that the ACLU could intervene in the Drug Enforcement Administration's attempt to sift through Utah's drug database without obtaining a warrant for the search. Under Utah law, enforcement agencies need a warrant—not a subpoena, as the DEA has requested—before they can search the sensitive information.
The ruling is believed to be the first to let an unaffiliated party intervene in an investigation, according to Fox 13 News in Salt Lake City.
The DEA had opposed the ACLU's request to intervene in the case, saying the move would interfere with its ongoing investigation of a Utah physician who may be funneling prescription drugs into organized crime.
ACLU attorney Nathan Freed Wessler, who argued the motion in court Wednesday, noted that the judge will only allow them to weigh in on the warrant issue, and that the ACLU is satisfied with that limitation.
"Today's ruling ensures the participation of people with the greatest stake in the outcome of this case—Utah individuals who have sensitive prescription records in the Controlled Substance Database,” Wessler said. “We look forward to explaining to the court why the DEA's use of administrative subpoenas instead of search warrants to request confidential prescription database records violates the Fourth Amendment."
The Utah case is only the second in the nation to weigh in on privacy concerns surrounding prescription drug record databases. The DEA lost a similar case in Oregon in March 2014, which is currently pending appeal.
Utah's database includes 70 million prescription records and DEA claimed in court Wednesday that this ruling is the first to let an unaffiliated party intervene in an investigative subpoena action, according to Fox 13 News, which covered the hearing.
A firefighters' union and the advocacy group Equality Utah will also be allowed to weigh in on the warrant issue.
