SPRINGFIELD – To protect patient privacy, State Senator Adriane Johnson passed legislation that would remove hormonal medications such as testosterone and estrogen from the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program.
“A patient’s medical information is deeply personal, and protecting it is essential to preserving trust between individuals and their healthcare providers,” said Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove). “Without that trust, people are less likely to seek the care they need.”
Intended to prevent patients from going from one doctor to another to get multiple prescriptions for powerful and addictive pain medications, the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program collects controlled substance prescription records from pharmacies. The data is provided to authorized individuals for the purpose of clinical care, regulation of professional practice, research and evaluation and law enforcement.
Testosterone was made a controlled substance in the 1990s to regulate the distribution of the hormone to prevent its misuse by athletes. Johnson’s measure would purge the program of existing information concerning the prescribing or dispensing of testosterone on or before Jan. 1, 2027 and would ensure no further records would be created or maintained.
Removing testosterone from the Prescription Monitoring Program would not remove the medication from patient charts – it would only ensure that the state does not catalogue and store the patient’s prescription.
“Health care decisions, including hormone replacement therapy, should remain between patients and their providers – not subject to tracking or surveillance,” Johnson said. “Respecting that privacy ensures individuals can access care without fear or stigma.”
House Bill 4834 passed the Senate Wednesday.
