For a second time in 2023, legislators requested that the Department of Health and Human Services review its Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines.

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HIPAA helps protect the privacy of medical records, but certain exceptions can be made when law enforcement is involved.

Some retailers, like CVS, reportedly tell their staff to immediately provide authorities with prescription and medical information about a client if they request it, even without a warrant, per Axios.

Two state representatives and a senator criticized the practice in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday.

“Americans’ prescription records are among the most private information the government can obtain about a person,” the letter to HHS said.

“They can reveal extremely personal and sensitive details about a person’s life, including prescriptions for birth control, depression or anxiety medications, or other private medical conditions.”

When congressional investigators asked why they do not require legal review of law enforcement requests, CVS reportedly initially pointed to their staff.

The company stated that “their pharmacy staff faces extreme pressure to immediately respond to law enforcement demands and, as such, the companies instruct their staff to process those requests in the store,” according to the letter.

The lawmakers are now pushing to see HIPAA regulations revised in order to protect customers’ medical records.

CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault maintained in a statement that the company’s practices are compliant with HIPPA.

The retailer has suggested that it start requiring a warrant or judge-issued subpoena before handing information to cops.

News of the letter and policies around releasing medical information to law enforcement went viral online, and some customers were frustrated that their records could be obtained by police at will.

Some threatened to boycott the drugstore chain while others said they’d go to competitors with different rules about releasing customer information.

“D**n glad I use Walgreens,” one person wrote in a thread on X, formerly Twitter.

“Walgreens reigns supreme or your local mom-and-pop pharmacy,” another added.

A third fumed: “Seems like a serious breach of privacy.”

“Sue them into oblivion,” someone else wrote.

Some chains, including Walgreens, ensure that legal professionals review any demands by law enforcement before action is taken, Axios reported.

Tuesday’s letter said that Walgreens and Kroger recently committed to making annual transparency reports on law enforcement demands public.

The U.S. Sun reached out to CVS for comment.