Friend12345

I am currently trying to help a friend of mine get onto suboxone, buprenorphine, or methadone. However, she is hesitant to go to a clinic or doctor's office because she just got her LPN license and is afraid of leaving a "paper trail" that her employer could find, alerting them to her addiction.

Is this a legitimate concern or will her information truly be kept confidential? I know there's a doctor-patient privilege but I want to be able to reassure her so she can get help. Are there any truly anonymous clinics that don't require registration or would take cash?

Upward2Enlightenment

I don't have any information to help but it might be helpful to know where your friend is at.

bunnezjp

HIPAA laws have been put in place to prevent a breach of confidentiality between caretakers and patients. Your friend is protected under these laws and violation of confidentiality includes fines and/or jail time.

~Bunnez

Friend12345

Upstate New York

Dee74

I have no experience to share but I wanted to welcome you Friend

D

Saskia

Welcome, Friend!

Strictly in my personal opinion, there are no 100% guarantees. However, it sounds like your friend is an addict. If she gets caught using while having a valid, active license, she will be in much bigger trouble than if she is successfully in treatment. HIPAA provides certain protections in the US, it does not cover everything. When I had to get a doctor's report before moving to a retirement community, my doctor included enough information about my alcohol history that anyone could have figured it out. HIPAA has no impact on that.

Same is true if she applies for a job - those meds do, I think, show up in some drug tests. Better to take a small risk and get treatment than take a huge risk and avoid it!

AdelineRose

When she is truly ready to recover your friend will do anything that it takes to obtain it. She needs to want recovery MORE THAN ANYTHING.

If she is worried about going on medication then she always has the option to cold turkey it and then there won't be a paper trail.

She can do it medically or she can do it cold turkey, many many MANNNYYY others have gone both routes. If she is not willing to help herself then she is just not ready right now for recovery.

Saskia

Examples of true HIPAA violations:

1. A medical professional calls you at home to give you the results of a test. Someone else answers the phone or the call goes to voice mail. The message should simply provide a name/number to call. Leaving a message with the results is a violation.

2. Someone working in a doctor's office sees the medical record of a patient and gossips about it to her friends - bingo! HIPAA violation.

3. A medical researcher has enrolled a number of patients in a new drug study. The records of treatment and results include information that can be used to identify a patient - also a HIPAA violation.

4. Mrs, Smith is in the hospital. She has not given consent to have her room number or condition information given to anyone except her husband. Her nephew calls the hospital to ask for information about her condition. HIPAA violation. In fact, hospital representatives cannot even give out information that she is, indeed, in the hospital.

It's all about patient consent.

So if any of us have an alcohol and/or drug history, we can refuse to let that information be shared ..... BUT if one is applying for a job, insurance, etc. that refusal can result in no job and no insurance.

Carlotta

I wanted to add to what AdelineRose said about going cold Turkey.

A documentary I would recommend for your friend is " Methadonia"
It is currently playing on Netflix.

I have known over the years through my job working with homeless people quite a few people who go to the methadone clinic. They call it: Liquid Handcuffs.

Methadone is one of the hardest substance to get off from (far worst than heroin) and people on the "program" have to report to the clinic several times a week (if not daily for a lot of them).

As a nurse, she will also have to think about the potential embarrassment if she was to meet one of her patients at the clinic. Another downside is that it makes simple things like taking a vacation abroad very difficult.

I don't know much about the other options but I feel (from what I have seen in my shelters' clients on the program) that she would be much better off detoxing cold turkey and joining a support group like NA or SMART and/or working one on one with an addiction therapist to address the underlying issues which prompted her to start using in the first place.

All the best to both of you.

Notimetoloose

Hi Friend, here in Australia, our medical careers have a high level of pharmaceutical drug abuse.
A long-term recovery plan would be a great support.

Methadone is a tough one because it is only coming to light what the effects of long-term use.
A lot of people still on the program are now in their 60's and 70s.

Alternatively, methadone can be a springboard to recovery and as a means to leave the old drug life behind in favor of a better lifestyle. It is important to have a taper plan along with a recovery plan.

I do not know about the US. In Australia it is possible to set up with a GP and arrange with a pharmacy to collect your dose, that could help with anonymity and not attached to a hospital clinic.