SALISBURY, N.C. — A woman is livid after Channel 9 showed her some of her private medical information that had been exposed.
A different woman found it in her bag after she had picked up a prescription for her son.
Eyewitness News took the concerns of both women to the company and the state.
A customer said it happened at the Walgreens on Jake Alexander Boulevard in Salisbury.
"I am angry," she said. She does not want to be identified, but she showed Eyewitness News a computer printout that she said was put inside the bag holding her prescription.
It lists 14 other customers by name, by medication and by phone number -- highly personal information that no pharmacy is supposed to disclose to a stranger.
Eyewitness News went to the Walgreens in Salisbury and showed employees a copy of the information. A store manager said she knew nothing about a breach of patient information and referred Eyewitness News to the company's corporate office.
So Eyewitness News tracked down some of the people on that list.
"That just blows my mind," said Paula Canfield, who had no idea her family's medical information had been compromised.
Unauthorized disclosure of private medical information is a violation of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Jay Campbell, who heads North Carolina's Board of Pharmacy, said by phone it is against state law, too.
"The board has the authority to do anything from reprimand, up to revoking a pharmacist's license or a pharmacy's permit," said Campbell.
The customer said she is filing a formal complaint to the state.
Canfield said she wants some assurance what has happened to her will not happen again.
WSOC
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