Confidentiality of Patient Records for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (TAP 13)

The regulations that protect the identities of persons in alcohol or drug abuse treatment have their genesis in two statutes of the early 1970's: the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 1970 and the Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 1972. These statutes were implemented by regulations issued by the then Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) in 1975. Revised in 1987 by one of HEW's successors, the Department of Health and Human Services, the regulations are set out at title 42, part 2, of the Code of Federal Regulations. Recently, Congress reaffirmed and reorganized the original confidentiality statutes by merging them into one act, the Public Health Service Act, now title 42, section 290dd-3, of the United States Code. The merger had no effect on the confidentiality regulations. Throughout this document, references to the confidentiality law or regulations will mean the regulations at title 42, part 2...