If you are looking to buy Aetna health insurance, you don't have to be Michael Jackson to justify a look into your prescription drug history.
Reports are circulating that the King of Pop's death has caused the DEA to take a look into his prescription drug activity.
The L.A. County Coroner's Office confiscated a number of controlled substances from Jackson's rented Holmby Hills mansion Monday as part of the ongoing LAPD case. The DEA's diversion control program, which also assisted in various investigations related to the death of Anna Nicole Smith, regulates controlled pharmaceuticals.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown tells the L.A. Times that the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement has also come onboard and will be utilizing the state's Controlled Sub-utilization and Evaluation System (CURES) to examine the prescription-drug aspect of the case.
Narcotics are highly regulated and tracked. This is much more than the old days when parents only had to sign a book at the pharmacy before they could purchase paregoric to sooth the pain of a teething baby.
The database, also used in the Smith case, holds the name of every doctor authorized to prescripe medication in the state, as well as a record of all prescriptions.
"If it's about doctors, drugs and patients or anything that touches that, it's in our database," Brown said. "We've been in touch with the LAPD and I've talked to Chief [William J.] Bratton."
Having access to prescription drug histories is not just for celebrities, nor is it limited to narcotics. Health insurance companies have access to similar information and routinely use it when you apply for health insurance. Medications play a key role in treatment, so this is a natural resource.
Health insurance carriers like Aetna, Blue Cross, Humana, United Healthcare, Cigna and more will check your application against a prescription drug database. They want to know what you have been treated for in the last few years so they can develop a complete medical history.
These health insurance companies have immediate access to your prescriptions by subscribing to services like Ingenix and IntelliScripts. In seconds a 3 - 5 year drug history can be reviewed and cross referenced against your application.
You don't have to be famous to have your prescription drug history laid bare. All that is necessary is for you to apply for health insurance and your prescription drug file is opened and reviewed.
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