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Is someone else getting rich of your medical data?

You may never have heard of it, but many private corporations know an awful lot about your medical history.
One such company based in Danbury, Connecticut, IMS (ims) buys bulk data from pharmacy chains such as CVS (cvs, -0.56%), doctor’s electronic record systems such as Allscripts, claims from insurers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and from others who handle your health information. The data is supposed to be anonymized—stripped from the identifiers that identify individuals. In turn, IMS sells insights from its more than half a billion patient dossiers mainly to drug companies.
So-called health care data mining is a growing market. Last week, the company reported 2015 net income of $417 million on revenue of $2.9 billion, compared with a loss of $189 million in 2014 (an acquisition also boosted revenue over the year). “The outlook for this business remains strong,” CEO Ari Bousbib said in announcing the earnings.

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