Independent pharmacists have expressed concern that Amazon's PillPack is violating patient privacy and making unsolicited phone calls asking them to transfer to PillPack, Pharmacy Times reported.
Shortly after Amazon acquired the online, full-service pharmacy in 2019, independent and retail pharmacies alike began complaining that PillPack was making unsolicited phone calls to their customers, asking them to switch their prescriptions to PillPack.
Many people claimed they didn't realize they were switching their prescriptions.
Daniel Griffis, PharmD, who owns a pharmacy in Brunswick, Ga., told Pharmacy Times his customers thought the phone calls were from their insurance company and didn't realize they were transferring their prescriptions.
"For each customer, we received a fax from PillPack requesting the transfer of the patient’s medication to them," Dr. Griffis told Pharmacy Times. "When we contacted the patients, they all said that they didn't request the transfer and didn't want to change pharmacies. It seemed that these requests came in all at once and then suddenly stopped. Very strange."
Dr. Griffis and other pharmacists have expressed concern about their customers' privacy, asking how PillPack got the information on where their customers filled their prescriptions.
A PillPack spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review that "PillPack only and always receives information about where customers previously filled their prescriptions directly from the customer or by the customer’s request."
"Nothing is more important to PillPack than the safety and security of our customer's information. We treat health information with the protection and security it demands and that is required by law. Always and without exception," the spokesperson continued.
Read the full article here.