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In my state, such a database exists...for narcotics drugs, at least. Pharmacies report narcotic prescription to the database. But, how the database works (or is intended to work) is not exactly what is described by Jim. If I suspect a patient in my care to be abusing the system in an attempt to get excessive narcotics, I can search the database using the patient's name and birth date to see prescriptions, amounts, prescribing provider, places they were filled, etc.
Now, whether it can be searched by government entities is a question to which I don't have the answer. And I also don't know that it can be searched "in reverse" (i.e.- input a certain drug name and see a list of people who have or have had prescriptions filled for it). My suspicion is that it COULD be searched that way by a determined hacker and/or an overreaching governmental authority.
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