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Two Utah firefighters are asking a federal appeals court to revive their lawsuit against state authorities who they say falsely accused them of prescription drug fraud after a warrantless search of a state prescription drug database.
Though charges were later dismissed, their lawyers say giving police unlimited access to records for all controlled substances prescribed to patients is unconstitutional.
They say the case could set a precedent because more than 40 states have similar databases and many don't require police to get a warrant. Utah has since passed a law requiring one.
The firefighters sued Cottonwood Heights after detectives investigating ambulance drug thefts in 2013 ran the names of all Unified Fire Authority firefighters through the database.
The city has pointed to other court rulings saying police don't need a warrant to access such records.