DRUGS/HHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration announced Friday [10-27-17] it is relaxing a federal privacy rule that prevents health providers from notifying family members about a drug overdose, one of the administration’s most significant policy shifts to combat the nation’s opioid crisis.
The new rule will explicitly permit health-care providers to share information with family members, friends and legal representatives about a patient’s medical condition if the patient is in crisis or incapacitated, such as during an opioid overdose…
The new guidance comes a day after President Donald Trump declared opioid use disorders a public health emergency and promised to accelerate the federal government’s response to the crisis. The change in privacy rules was also one of the top recommendations made by Mr. Trump’s White House Commission on opioids in an August report.”
-Michelle Hackman, “Trump Administration Relaxes Medical Privacy Rule for Overdoses,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 27, 2017 07:19pm