SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal appeals court has declined to revive the lawsuit of two Utah firefighters who say authorities falsely accused them of prescription drug fraud after searching their medical records in a state prescription drug database.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week sided with federal judges who dismissed the cases in 2015.
The firefighters sued Cottonwood Heights after detectives investigating ambulance drug thefts in 2013 ran the names of all Unified Fire Authority firefighters through the database. The unrelated charges of prescription fraud the two firefighters faced were later dismissed.
The firefighters’ lawyers had argued that giving police unlimited access to records for all controlled substances prescribed to patients is unconstitutional.
Utah has since passed a law requiring a warrant, partly as a result of the firefighters’ case.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
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