Editorial: Drugs as junk mail: A new low in sales

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 8:57 a.m.

In the past few years there have been countless examples of Americans having their privacy rights violated by companies, often with their personal information sold to the highest bidder. There isn't much left that could shock us in this realm of privacy violation, but a recent case in Florida involving a pharmaceutical company certainly is near the top of the list.

The New York Times reported Saturday that drug maker Eli Lilly sent a free month's worth of Prozac, the anti-depressant prescription, unsolicited to South Florida patients who had been treated for depression. Lilly likely obtained the list of patients from hospitals, physicians and drug stores, and this is exactly the kind of practice that makes people worry about how much of our personal information gets shared without our knowledge.

Questions have been raised about the legality of Lilly sending unsolicited drugs through the mail based on a blanket prescription the company obtained from doctors. The Florida attorney general is investigating the marketing strategy, which Lilly's corporate executives claim they didn't know about. It is amazing that anyone at Lilly would find it morally acceptable to harvest names from what should be private records and then mail, unsolicited, medication to potential patients. The competition among pharmaceutical companies to lure new business is fierce, but Lilly's venture is a new low.