Pharmacies in California would be allowed to sell confidential patient prescription info to third-party marketing firms working for drugmakers under a bill expected to be voted on today by the state Senate, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The bill would allow drugmakers to send mailings directly to patients. Supporters of the proposal say the intent is to remind patients to take their meds and order refills, but consumer advocates are outraged.

“This bill would be a windfall for corporations seeking to track, buy and sell a patient’s private medical records,” Zack Kaldveer of the Consumer Federation of California, tells the Chron. “This would represent a significant intrusion by pharmaceutical companies into the privacy of patients. By opening this Pandora’s box, consumers could wind up receiving mailings designed to look as if they came from the pharmacy yet conflict with what their pharmacist or doctor has recommended.”

The California Medical Association also opposes the legislation, contending that it could jeopardize patient safety and hurt doctor-patient relationships. The mailings are particularly problematic for patients with sensitive medical issues such as mental illnesses, says the association.

People receiving drugs any number of illnesses could receive the letters. “The point is to tell people to take the drug as prescribed and to refill it,” Rocky Rushing, a spokesman for Ron Calderon, a Democratic senator, who authored the bill, tells the paper. He adds that many people fail to follow medication directions.

Rupin Thakkar, a board member of the National Physicians Alliance, considers the bill a pharmaceutical ploy to gain access to important patient info. “It’s as if you were shopping in a supermarket and someone was following you and saying for everything you buy, ‘You should try something different,’ ” Thakkar tells the paper. “It’s a horrible invasion of privacy - it amounts to marketing directly to patients in their homes. One’s health care information absolutely needs to be private.”

Last week, the Senate defeated the bill, SB1096, on a 17-17 vote, but Calderon amended it to allow patients to opt-out when they pick up their prescriptions. “You pick up your meds and have the opportunity to opt out,” says Rushing. “It’s similar to waiving your right to consult with the pharmacist. We are trying to strike a balance…There was a lot of concern about people being forced into a program where they had no say-so.”

But consumer groups say it’s unfair to place the burden on patients. “We’re concerned that people won’t notice it or won’t understand what it means,” Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog tells the paper.

A primary backer of the bill is Adheris, a subsidiary of a drug marketing company that was sued several years ago under its former name for privacy violations. Adheris is involved in a pending class-action lawsuit in San Diego involving the same issues in the Calderon bill, the Chron writes.

California has one of the nation’s strongest medical privacy laws. Under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, direct mail marketing to patients by pharmaceutical firms is not permitted, according to the paper.