Thursday, February 2, 2023

Abortion wars continue; personal medical data is unsecure with for-profit companies

The radical right's theocracy-charged abortion culture war is not going to go away or calm down. Courthouse News Service writes:
Missouri’s new attorney general, leading a coalition of conservative states, on Wednesday sent a warning letter to pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS saying that a plan to mail abortion pills is both illegal and unsafe.

The letters are in response to the Biden administration’s changes to federal rules designed to give women seeking an abortion more options in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. The biggest change approved in January allowed women to receive abortion pills through the mail. Previously, they had been required to physically pick them up at pharmacies.

Missouri's Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, on behalf of 20 states, wrote the states “reject the Biden administration’s bizarre interpretation, and we expect courts will as well.”  
Planned Parenthood of America, when contacted for a reaction, referred to a statement made last month in response to the Biden Administration's rule change claiming Mifepristone is safe and effective.
We will find out if the Christian nationalist Supreme Court agrees. And we might be quite unhappy with what that court decides.

For the record, Mifepristone is safe and effective. If it weren't, the FDA would not have approved it. As usual, radical right Republican elites are bald faced liars.


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Far too often, (i) your personal data just isn't safe, and (ii) the system is rigged to protect companies and leave consumers abused, ripped off, deceived, etc. Here's another example. The NYT writes:
Millions of Americans have used GoodRx, a drug discount app, to search for lower prices on prescriptions like antidepressants, H.I.V. medications and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases at their local drugstores. But U.S. regulators say the app’s coupons and convenience came at a high cost for users: wrongful disclosure of their intimate health information.

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission accused the app’s developer, GoodRx Holdings, of sharing sensitive personal data on millions of users’ prescription medications and illnesses with companies like Facebook and Google without authorization.

The company’s information-sharing practices, the agency said, violated a federal rule requiring health apps and fitness trackers that collect personal health details to notify consumers of data breaches.

While GoodRx agreed to settle the case, it said it disagreed with the agency’s allegations and admitted no wrongdoing.
Why would GoodRx Holdings give a person's intimate medical information to Facebook, Google and etc. without consumers knowing about it? Obviously because (i) the company doesn't care about consumers' privacy but cares a lot about profit, (ii) Facebook, Google and etc. don't care about consumers' privacy but care a lot about profit, and (iii) the laws, assuming any even exist, and our law enforcement and court systems are rigged to protect companies not caring about consumers. 

The company (GoodRx Holdings and the others) admits no wrongdoing, despite their undeniable wrongdoing. How is this impossibility even possible? Easy. America has a corrupted, broken system of laws, law enforcement, courts and politics for consumers, but a great system for rich and powerful special interests and rich people.

That's brass knuckles (unregulated) capitalism working as usual. Consumers and the public interest get their lumps, while the rich and powerful people and interests get more rich and powerful.


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