Your Doctor Knows You're Killing Yourself. The Data Brokers Told Her

[frazzled]

8. OMG: this is the worst kind of "spying"

First of all, big data can be dumb data. You might be buying cigarettes for a spouse or friend, but big data will think it's you: your insurance rate goes up (even under Obamacare), despite your protestations.

And what right does a doctor have, anyway, to call up to chastise you for buying Twinkies? If you are severely overweight, that is evident from a physical exam. There's no need to spy on your buying habits to diagnose the problem.

This is a gross invasion of privacy. Say my doctor finds out I've been buying Dr. Scholl's shoe inserts at the drugstore, and calls me up to encourage me to get foot surgery--for which he/she will get a kickback. This is more like advertising or ambulance chasing than the practice of medicine: seeking out candidates for procedures or care.

The deal is: people seek medical care for conditions they wish or need to address, and they have a right to not seek care as well. Doctors shouldn't spy on your privacy, and they should not come to you.