Reading Room Document

Whether Official Opinions of the General Counsel for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Construing HEW Regulations Have Binding Effect in a Prosecution for Violation of Those Regulations

The document discusses the effect of agency interpretation of regulations on the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records. It raises the question of whether official opinions construing the regulations have any binding precedential effect in a prosecution for violation of the regulations. The document concludes that administrative interpretation that certain conduct is prohibited by the regulation would not bind a court in a prosecution unless the interpretation were duly promulgated as part of the regulation. It also suggests that a treatment program official who released patient records in good faith reliance upon one of the interpretations could not be successfully prosecuted, and that it would be desirable to coordinate the issuance of these constructions with the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section of the Criminal Division.

December 14, 1977