42 CFR Part 2: Court Order Requirements to Disclose SUD Treatment Records

The Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information (CoE-PHI) has published a resource on court order requirements under 42 CFR Part 2 for disclosing SUD treatment records in a criminal case. To help clarify the new court order requirements, the resource contains sample provisions for a criminal court order authorizing disclosure of a patient’s Part 2 records. The main requirements are:

1. “A general court order, subpoena, warrant, or official request for records, does not permit the disclosure of Part 2 records.

2. The use of Part 2 protected SUD treatment records to criminally investigate or prosecute a patient, requires a special court order finding that, among other factors, the alleged crime is “extremely serious.”

3. If a court issues a court order authorizing the disclosure of Part 2 protected records in a criminal case, it must impose limitations on the amount of information disclosed and who may receive the information.”