Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA)
Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Telephone (240) 276-2717
1Choke
Cherry Road, Room 2-1065 Facsimile (240) 276-1630
Rockville,
Maryland 20857 E-mail: [email protected]
Division
of Pharmacologic Therapies DPT
C. Todd Rosendale, MA
Public Health Advisor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FACSIMILE
AInformation Memorandum@
This facsimile is intended only for the
addressee indicated below, and any review, dissemination or
use of this trans-
Mission or its contents by
persons other than the addressee
is
strictly prohibited in accordance with 42 CFR Part 2,
Confidentiality
of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records
TO: State Methadone Authorities
Opioid Treatment
Programs:
Missouri, N. Carolina, S. Carolina,
FROM:C. Todd Rosendale, MA
RE: Emergency
Medication for Patients of Programs
Impacted
by Hurricane Katrina
DATE: August 31, 2005
The Division of Pharmacologic
Therapies is aware of the growing need to provide access to medication for the
large number of patients displaced from the programs impacted either directly
or indirectly by Hurricane Katrina, and we have the following guidance relative
to the provision of emergency medication to those persons identifying
themselves as patients of one of the affected treatment programs. Many of the patients you encounter will not
only need medication, they will also have suffered the loss of their residence
and have no assurance as to when and where they will relocate. Therefore, please include a large dose of
compassion with your usual due caution when dispensing methadone.
Emergency Guidance:
~ All necessary identification and
dosing information relative to patients of the DRD New Orleans Medical Clinic
can be ascertained by calling (800) 447-8801 and asking for Janet or Laura.
~ If you are unable to contact the
patients home program, the following procedures should be combined with your
existing emergency plans:
1)
The emergency guest patient should show valid
picture identification which includes an address in close proximity to the
areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
2)
The patient should show some type of proof that
indicates they were receiving services from a clinic located in one of the
devastated areas (medication bottle, program identification card, receipt for
payment of fees, etc.). In cases where
the patient does not have any items of proof, the program may use their best
clinical/medical judgment, possibly combined with a stat drug test for the
presence of methadone (dip stick, etc.).
3)
The program may administer the amount of medication
that the patient reports as their current dose; however, remind each patient
that the dose they report will be verified with the home program ASAP. In cases where the reported dose appears
questionable, it is best to use good medical judgment when determining the dose
level.
4)
Emergency guest patients should be medicated daily
with take-home doses provided only for days that the program is closed (Sundays
and holidays). In the case of a patient
who must travel an extreme distance to receive the medication, take-home
medication may be considered via the SMA-168 Request for Exception process.
5)
The submission of an SMA-168 Request for Exception
to CSAT will not be necessary for the emergency guest patient; however, the
following information should be collected daily and submitted to CSAT when all
patients have returned to their home programs or have been permanently
relocated to another program:
a)
assign each patient a guest clinic identification
number and compile a temporary chart.
b)
attempt to contact the home program of the emergency
guest patient each day prior to administering the medication and record the
result in the temporary chart.
c)
record the day, date and amount of medication
administered to each patient along with any observations made by the staff
person.
Should there be any questions or
issues not covered in this Information
Memorandum, please feel free to call me at (240) 276-2717.
The Medication Assisted Treatment community
of OTPs should be very proud. Their immediate
offers of assistance and outpouring of concern to the patients whose lives have
been impacted so drastically has been gratifying.
We have attached contact information
for 37 OTPs in three states to aid in contacting the home programs for displaced
patients.