• The Washington Post , Tuesday, May 22, 2007 11:15 AM

Many doctors object to drugmakers' common practice of contracting with data-mining companies to track exactly which medicines physicians prescribe and in what quantities. Now, the issue is bubbling up in the political arena. Last year, New Hampshire became the first state to try to curtail the practice, but a federal district judge three weeks ago ruled the law unconstitutional.

This year, more than a dozen states have considered similar legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. They include Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington, although the results so far have been limited. Bills are stalled in some states, and in others--such as Maryland and West Virginia--they did not pass at the committee level.

Pharmaceutical companies, which use the information to fine-tune their sales and marketing efforts, defend the practice as a way of better educating physicians about new drugs.

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