revealing birthdate for RX

[Les Earnest <les@Steam.Stanford.EDU>]

  Ann Dellarocco writes:
     I live in NY and a pharmacist refused to fill my prescription
     because I would not give my age in a store full of people, stating
     that he has my SS# on the back of my membership card.  
  
     I checked with Advoc. office and was told:  There is no law that
     you must give it.  I went to a new pharmacist and they have a
     big sign:  You must give it.
  
     I filed a complaint and am told by investigator:  There is no
     such law.
  
  I believe that is correct, but there is also no law that prohibits
  commercial entities from requiring your SS# as a condition of doing
  business. 
  
     My HMO wrote me a letter saying:  It is a law and you must give
     it, that they follow the rules of CONNECTICUT (I am in the New
     York chapter), and then in a subsequent phone conversation the
     girl told me:  It is FEDERAL which means nationwide.
  
  I believe that is a erroneous.  In fact, there *is* a Federal law that
  prohibits any governmental body from requiring disclosure of your SS#
  other than for a certain short list of permissible purposes and, as I
  recall, medical applications are not on the list.  Unfortunately,
  drivers licenses are on the list.
  
  For more information, I recommend that you consult the SSN FAQ, which
  I believe is at Web location cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/html/SSN-FAQ.html
  though I can't verify that from here.
  
     Does anyone know if there is a LAW and if so, which law, in NEW
     YORK stating I cannot get a RX filled UNLESS I GIVE MY BIRTHDATE?
  
  Dunno about that.
  
  	-Les Earnest, not a lawyer and don't pretend to be one