Utah reports it will obey a court order to let DEA search a prescription-drug database without a warrant, despite a state law designed to protect patient privacy. State attorneys have decided not to appeal after reviewing similar cases, said Utah Attorney General's Office spokesman Dan Burton in a statement Monday. All states maintain similar databases to help doctors and pharmacists prevent overprescribing. Utah is among a minority of states requiring police to get a warrant before they search the database. Utah state law enforcement will still have to follow the law, Burton said. DEA fought to be exempt from the law, saying the searches are an important tool in early investigations. The agency sued after agents asked to search the database to find out whether a medical provider was prescribing drugs to members of a criminal organization with ties overseas. U.S. District Judge David Nuffer decided last month that database queries do not violate laws against unreasonable search and seizure because the prescription drugs are already tightly controlled. "Prescription drugs are a highly regulated industry in which patients and doctors do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy," he wrote in the ruling.
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