HIPPA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The "Privacy" component of HIPPA is very limited in scope. Even with HIPPA the data being shared would be consistent with definition of "Limited" dataset.[0] At least in United States there is significant precedent for sharing such data, including even for marketing purposes as decided by Supreme Court case (IMS Health vs Sorrell).
[0]http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institutional_review_board/hi...