Vermont Health Privacy Rights

Pharmacy Privacy and Data Mining: Vermont had a unique law (now largely superseded by Supreme Court ruling) that prohibited the sale or use of prescriber-identifiable prescription data for marketing without consent. This indirectly protected patient prescription privacy by limiting data miners. (The law was struck down on free speech grounds in Sorrell v. IMS Health (2011).) Still, Vermont has strong patient privacy sentiments.

General: VT law has a patients' bill of rights ensuring privacy and the right to approve release of records (consistent with HIPAA). Access to records is required by state regulation (generally within 30 days).

Mental Health: Vermont law makes mental health treatment information confidential, only to be released with patient consent or as authorized by law. For minors, VT gives those 12 and older rights to consent to some mental health or substance abuse treatment and keep those records confidential.

Data Broker Regulation: VT has a data broker law requiring companies that trade in personal data (including health data) to register and have reasonable security – though this doesn't directly give patients new rights, it's part of the privacy landscape.