H.R. 3545 – Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 5:41 PM UTC

The Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act amends the Public Health Service Act to strengthen the privacy of records related to substance‑use‑disorder treatment. It clarifies that such records are generally confidential, but can be used for treatment, payment, or health‑care operations under the same rules that apply to other protected health information. The bill also bars the use of these records in criminal cases unless a court order specifically allows it, and it makes any improperly used record inadmissible and may trigger dismissal of the case.

Key Provisions

Adds an exception that allows the content of substance‑use‑disorder records to be used for treatment, payment, or health‑care operations, applying the same HIPAA regulations that govern other health information.
Defines key terms (treatment, payment, health‑care operations, protected health information, covered entity) by reference to existing HIPAA regulations.
Prohibits the use of these records to initiate or support criminal charges or investigations against a patient, except when a court order is issued under the new provision.
Requires that any record used in violation of the criminal‑proceedings restriction be excluded from evidence and that the related criminal case be automatically dismissed unless good cause is shown.

Legislative Activity

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3 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

Health Subcommittee

April 25, 2018

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

July 28, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Energy and Commerce Committee

July 28, 2017

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Health Subcommittee

August 4, 2017

HouseCommittee

Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

Health Subcommittee

April 25, 2018

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 3545 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Markwayne MullinR-OK-2 · Oct 24, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 3545, a bill originally introduced by Representative Murphy of Pennsylvania, for the purposes…

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued July 28, 2017

I

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3545

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 28, 2017

Mr. Murphy of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr. Renacci, and Mr. Mullin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to protect the confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act.

2.

Confidentiality of records

Section 543 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (b)—

(A)

in paragraph (1), by striking The content and inserting Subject to paragraph (3), the content;

(B)

in paragraph (2), by striking Whether and inserting Subject to paragraph (3), whether; and

(C)

by adding at the end the following:

(3)

Exception

(A)

In general

In the case of a use or disclosure of the content of a record referred to in subsection (a) for purposes of treatment, payment, or health care operations, paragraphs (1) and (2), as applicable, and regulations issued under subsection (g), including any such regulations pertaining to redisclosure limitations, shall not apply, and the provisions of section 164.506 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, shall apply with respect to such use or disclosure of such content by an entity in the same manner and to the same extent as such provisions apply with respect to the use or disclosure of protected health information by a covered entity.

(B)

Definitions

For purposes of this paragraph, the terms treatment, payment, health care operations, and protected health information have the meaning given such terms in section 164.501 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, and the term covered entity has the meaning given such term in section 160.103 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.

; and

(2)

by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c)

Use of records in criminal proceedings

(1)

In general

Except as authorized by a court order granted under subsection (b)(2)(C), no record referred to in subsection (a) may be used to initiate or substantiate any criminal charges against a patient or to conduct any investigation of a patient.

(2)

Additional protections

In the case of a use or disclosure of a record referred to in subsection (a) for purposes of treatment, payment, or health care operations as provided for under subsection (b), no further disclosure or redisclosure of such record is allowed to initiate or substantiate any criminal charges against a patient or to conduct any investigation of a patient except as authorized by a court order granted under subsection (b)(2)(C) of this section.

(3)

Exclusionary effect and dismissal

Any record referred to in subsection (a) that has been used or disclosed to initiate or substantiate any criminal charges against a patient or to conduct any investigation of a patient in violation of paragraph (1) or (2), shall be excluded from evidence in any proposed or actual proceedings relating to such criminal charges or investigation and absent good cause shown shall result in the automatic dismissal of any proceedings for which the content of the record was offered.

.