Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes for the purpose of response before I yield to Dr. Bucshon. Mr. Speaker, the tragic story that was just related to us really only reinforces the need to change the statute behind 42 CFR part 2. There are some important facts missing from the description of the situation that occurred. It appears evident that at least one or both of the parties involved, the judge, and/or the methadone maintenance program, violated existing regulations under both part 2 and HIPAA. Under part 2, patient records may only be disclosed without patient consent if the disclosure is authorized by an appropriate order of a court of competent jurisdiction. There must be a showing of good cause in which the court must weigh the public interest and need for disclosure against the injury to the patient, the physician-patient relationship, and treatment services. Further, the court must impose appropriate safeguards against unauthorized disclosure. It is not clear from the description provided in the letter how the judge found out about the patient's participation in a methadone maintenance program. If the information to the judge was provided without an appropriate court order, then the methadone maintenance program likely violated the requirements under part 2 to safeguard the patient's records from such disclosure.…”