Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

North American physicians are not afforded the same protection of privacy and control over their information as patients are. Pharmaceutical drug Intermediaries combine datasets to reidentify physicians, link them to their prescribing habits, and sell this data to pharmaceutical marketers. Sales representatives approach unknowing doctors with data-informed sales pitches to influence their prescribing habits. Framed in a big-data, surveillance studies framework, this work explores the philosophical underpinnings, as well as social, technical, and legal issues central to the exploitation of physician data. Its aim is to understand to what degree physicians own their data, how far their data extends them (i.e. for access) and who can legitimately control and act on their data. This work is informed by surveillance, structural-functionalist, and medical sociology literature, legal documents, industry publications, and corporate websites, reports, best practices materials, policies, and white papers. This case reflects problematic big-data practices, consequences, public concern and agency for privacy protection in an increasingly data-driven world. Implications of limiting or prohibiting these practices include improving the state of privacy (and data-trading) law, physician privacy, public trust in medicine and research, and public health, as less physicians will be persuaded to prescribe expensive, inadequately tested, or unsafe brand pharmaceuticals.