§ 3371 — Confidentiality of certain records, reports, and information

New York § 3371

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PBH: Public Health
• Title 6: Records and Reports
• Art. 33: Controlled Substances

Text

§ 3371. Confidentiality of certain records, reports, and information.\n1. No person, who has knowledge by virtue of his or her office of the\nidentity of a particular patient or research subject, a manufacturing\nprocess, a trade secret or a formula shall disclose such knowledge, or\nany report or record thereof, except:\n (a) to another person employed by the department, for purposes of\nexecuting provisions of this article;\n (b) pursuant to judicial subpoena or court order in a criminal\ninvestigation or proceeding;\n (c) to an agency, department of government, or official board\nauthorized to regulate, license or otherwise supervise a person who is\nauthorized by this article to deal in controlled substances, or in the\ncourse of any investigation or proceeding by or before such agency,\ndepartment or board;\n (d) to the prescription monitoring program registry and to authorized\nusers of such registry as set forth in subdivision two of this section;\n (e) to a practitioner to inform him or her that a patient may be under\ntreatment with a controlled substance by another practitioner for the\npurposes of subdivision two of this section, and to facilitate the\ndepartment's review of individual challenges to the accuracy of\ncontrolled substances histories pursuant to subdivision six of section\nthirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this article;\n (f) to a pharmacist to provide information regarding prescriptions for\ncontrolled substances presented to the pharmacist for the purposes of\nsubdivision two of this section and to facilitate the department's\nreview of individual challenges to the accuracy of controlled substances\nhistories pursuant to subdivision six of section thirty-three hundred\nforty-three-a of this article;\n (g) to the deputy attorney general for medicaid fraud control, or his\nor her designee, in furtherance of an investigation of fraud, waste or\nabuse of the Medicaid program, pursuant to an agreement with the\ndepartment;\n (h) to a local health department for the purpose of conducting public\nhealth research or education: (i) pursuant to an agreement with the\ncommissioner; (ii) when the release of such information is deemed\nappropriate by the commissioner; (iii) for use in accordance with\nmeasures required by the commissioner to ensure that the security and\nconfidentiality of the data is protected; and (iv) provided that\ndisclosure is restricted to individuals within the local health\ndepartment who are engaged in the research or education;\n (i) to a medical examiner or coroner who is an officer of or employed\nby a state or local government, pursuant to his or her official duties;\nand\n (j) to an individual for the purpose of providing such individual with\nhis or her own controlled substance history or, in appropriate\ncircumstances, in the case of a patient who lacks capacity to make\nhealth care decisions, a person who has legal authority to make such\ndecisions for the patient and who would have legal access to the\npatient's health care records, if requested from the department pursuant\nto subdivision six of section thirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this\narticle or from a treating practitioner pursuant to subparagraph (iv) of\nparagraph (a) of subdivision two of this section.\n * 2. The prescription monitoring program registry may be accessed,\nunder such terms and conditions as are established by the department for\npurposes of maintaining the security and confidentiality of the\ninformation contained in the registry, by:\n (a) a practitioner, or a designee authorized by such practitioner\npursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section thirty-three\nhundred forty-three-a, section thirty-three hundred sixty-one of this\narticle or section thirty of the cannabis law, for the purposes of: (i)\ninforming the practitioner that a patient may be under treatment with a\ncontrolled substance by another practitioner; (ii) providing the\npractitioner with notifications of controlled substance activity as\ndeemed relevant by the department, including but not limited to a\nnotification made available on a monthly or other periodic basis through\nthe registry of controlled substances activity pertaining to his or her\npatient; (iii) allowing the practitioner, through consultation of the\nprescription monitoring program registry, to review his or her patient's\ncontrolled substances history as required by section thirty-three\nhundred forty-three-a, section thirty-three hundred sixty-one of this\narticle or section thirty of the cannabis law; and (iv) providing to his\nor her patient, or person authorized pursuant to paragraph (j) of\nsubdivision one of this section, upon request, a copy of such patient's\ncontrolled substance history as is available to the practitioner through\nthe prescription monitoring program registry; or\n (b) a pharmacist, pharmacy intern or other designee authorized by the\npharmacist pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision three of section\nthirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this article, for the purposes of:\n(i) consulting the prescription monitoring program registry to review\nthe controlled substances history of an individual for whom one or more\nprescriptions for controlled substances or certifications for cannabis\nis presented to the pharmacist, pursuant to section thirty-three hundred\nforty-three-a of this article; and (ii) receiving from the department\nsuch notifications of controlled substance activity as are made\navailable by the department; or\n (c) an individual employed by a registered organization as defined in\nsection three of the cannabis law, for the purpose of consulting the\nprescription monitoring program registry to review the controlled\nsubstances history of an individual for whom one or more certifications\nfor cannabis is presented to that registered organization, pursuant to\nsection thirty-three hundred sixty-four of this article or section\nthirty-four of the cannabis law. Unless otherwise authorized by this\narticle or by the cannabis law, an individual employed by a registered\norganization will be provided access to the prescription monitoring\nprogram in the sole discretion of the commissioner.\n * NB Effective until July 5, 2028\n * 2. The prescription monitoring program registry may be accessed,\nunder such terms and conditions as are established by the department for\npurposes of maintaining the security and confidentiality of the\ninformation contained in the registry, by:\n (a) a practitioner, or a designee authorized by such practitioner\npursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section thirty-three\nhundred forty-three-a of this article, for the purposes of: (i)\ninforming the practitioner that a patient may be under treatment with a\ncontrolled substance by another practitioner; (ii) providing the\npractitioner with notifications of controlled substance activity as\ndeemed relevant by the department, including but not limited to a\nnotification made available on a monthly or other periodic basis through\nthe registry of controlled substances activity pertaining to his or her\npatient; (iii) allowing the practitioner, through consultation of the\nprescription monitoring program registry, to review his or her patient's\ncontrolled substances history as required by section thirty-three\nhundred forty-three-a of this article; and (iv) providing to his or her\npatient, or person authorized pursuant to paragraph (j) of subdivision\none of this section, upon request, a copy of such patient's controlled\nsubstance history as is available to the practitioner through the\nprescription monitoring program registry; or\n (b) a pharmacist, pharmacy intern or other designee authorized by the\npharmacist pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision three of section\nthirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this article, for the purposes of:\n(i) consulting the prescription monitoring program registry to review\nthe controlled substances history of an individual for whom one or more\nprescriptions for controlled substances is presented to the pharmacist,\npursuant to section thirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this article;\nand (ii) receiving from the department such notifications of controlled\nsubstance activity as are made available by the department.\n * NB Effective July 5, 2028\n 3. Where it has reason to believe that a crime related to the\ndiversion of controlled substances has been committed, the department\nmay notify appropriate law enforcement agencies and provide relevant\ninformation about the suspected criminal activity, including controlled\nsubstances prescribed or dispensed, as reasonably appears to be\nnecessary. The department shall keep a record of the information\nprovided, including, but not limited to: the specific information\nprovided and the agency to which such information was provided,\nincluding the name and title of the person to whom such information was\nprovided and an attestation from such person that he or she has\nauthority to receive such information.\n 4. In the course of any proceeding where such information is\ndisclosed, except when necessary to effectuate the rights of a party to\nthe proceeding, the court or presiding officer shall take such action as\nis necessary to insure that such information, or record or report of\nsuch information is not made public.\n