The Ohio Department of Health is being sued in connection with a mailing that disclosed the identities of 6,000 people living with HIV. As The Columbus Dispatch reports, a separate lawsuit has been brought against CVS Caremark, part of the CVS pharmacy and health care company, which actually sent the letters. And in a third suit, a man with HIV is suing for being forced to buy his medications from CVS’s pharmacies.
In September, it was reported that CVS sent out a mailing to participants in Ohio’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a federal program that helps low-income people access HIV treatment and care.
The mailing had the code “PM 6402 HIV” printed directly above the clients’ names and addresses, visible in the envelope’s window.
That is the genesis of one lawsuit.
In the related lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Health regarding the mailing, the state is being sued for sharing patients’ private medical information without authorization. The lawsuit claims CVS used the information in a marketing pitch to non-CVS customers.
In the third case, also reported by The Columbus Dispatch, ADAP participant Edward J. Hamilton of Columbus, is suing the state health department for requiring him to get his medications through the CVS chain.
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