Bill: HB 3189, 85(R) - 2017
Committee
House Public Health
Vote Recommendation
| Vote Recommendation |
Economic Freedom |
Property Rights |
Personal Responsibility |
Limited Government |
Individual Liberty |
| No |
Neutral |
Neutral |
Neutral |
Neutral |
Negative |
Author(s)
Greg Bonnen
Bill Caption
Relating to the reporting of and
access to information related to court-ordered prescription drug substance
abuse treatment; providing a criminal penalty.
Fiscal Notes
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB3189, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2019.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
Bill Analysis
If a judge requires someone to serve a term of confinement and treatment in a substance abuse felony punishment facility as a condition of community supervision, or if the judge requires a defendant to receive treatment as a participant in a specialty court program, or if a judge otherwise enters an order for court-ordered treatment, the judge would be required to submit to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy the defendant’s name and birth-date, and the name of the substances abused by the defendant.
In addition, under current law the Texas State Board of Pharmacy has certain legal duties related to the confidentiality and disclosure of certain prescription information. The information required to be reported under this bill would be subject to the same rules that govern other official prescription information, including authority to contract, and the consequences that are associated with the unauthorized disclosure of information.
Vote Recommendation Notes
This bill violates our individual liberty principle by requiring judges to provide the State Board of Pharmacy with a patients' confidential medical records without their consent, thereby violating that patient's right to privacy. This could conceivably lead to civil liability in the future for a pharmacist who prescribes medication to a former offender whose records were sent to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy under the provisions of this bill. It may have a chilling effect on pharmacists who may be unwilling to prescribe needed medication to a person who has had substance abuse problems in the past. Finally, it is not the job of pharmacists to act as a de facto arm of law enforcement. For these reasons we oppose this bill.
