From ABC7 New York · · 1m 10s
Telehealth companies leak medical data without permission
Telehealth firms share health data with advertisers and search engines after promising privacy
In brief
Telehealth firms share health data with advertisers and search engines after promising privacy Patients get prescriptions without real-time doctor consultations, risking health data leaks Originally reported by ABC7 New York.
Telehealth data leaks
Telehealth companies share health data with Meta and Google without user permission.
“an effort to generate headlines at our expense”
FTC lawsuit targets Hims
The FTC alleges Hims & Hers bypassed real-time doctor consultations for prescriptions.
GLP-1 prescriptions without checks
Less than a third of telehealth sites require real-time doctor consultations for weight-loss drugs.
HIPAA doesn't cover telehealth
Federal health privacy law HIPAA excludes telehealth companies from protection.
Data shared with advertisers
Telehealth firms disclose health data to advertisers and social media platforms.
Prescriptions approved quickly
Hims customers get prescriptions approved within minutes without doctor review.
Privacy policy risks
Some telehealth sites sell users' sex lives in their privacy policies.
No real-time doctor checks
Most GLP-1 users skip doctor consultations before starting weight-loss treatment.
State privacy laws
California and other states have health data privacy laws but lack enforcement.
The bottom line
Patients get prescriptions without real-time doctor consultations, risking health data leaks
