Walgreens in hot water

Walgreens customers in California are suing for the commercial value of their own prescription information, after the drugstore chain allegedly sold personal information to pharmaceutical firms, according to Reuters and other media reports.

In mid-March, customers filed a lawsuit against Walgreen Co., claiming the national company sold information, including their gender, state and age group, as well as the names of the drugs they took and the identification number of the physician who prescribed the drugs.

Jeffrey Krinsk, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, is arguing that personal drug information belongs to the patient who purchased the drug, and not the pharmacy.