Former CSAT director to SAMHSA: Withdraw 42 CFR Part 2 proposal

Abstract

H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., is the former director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the federal agency that has proposed to amend 42 CFR Part 2, the regulation protecting the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse treatment patient records. In a massive notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published Aug. 26 (see ADAW, Sept. 9), SAMHSA proposed to remove the ban against giving opioid treatment program (OTP) patient data — methadone being the key medication — to prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs). That ban was instituted by Clark himself when, as CSAT director, he issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” to OTPs telling them they should not give patient medication data to the PDMP, but rather should check the PDMP to see what medications their patients are on. The rationale for the letter was the same as the rationale for opposition to SAMHSA's NPRM: Patients would not want to go to treatment if they knew their methadone information could be shared without their consent.