Drugs firm blames slack programming for patient indiscretion

NEWS US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has blamed a programming error for the email blunder that saw the company reveal the identities of 600 patients. The company came under fire from US privacy groups this week when it accidentally revealed the email addresses of more than 600 patients, including those suffering from mental illnesses such as bulimia, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Eli Lilly sent out an email on 27 June announcing its email-based alert service to patients was to be closed down. However, the email included the addresses of all its recipients.