125.33 Voluntary treatment of persons with substance-related disorders.

1. A person with a substance-related disorder may apply for voluntary treatment or rehabilitation services directly to a facility or to a licensed physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon or to a mental health professional. If the proposed patient is a minor or an incompetent person, a parent, a legal guardian or other legal representative may make the application. The licensed physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon, mental health professional, or any employee or person acting under the direction or supervision of the physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon, mental health professional, or facility shall not report or disclose the name of the person or the fact that treatment was requested or has been undertaken to any law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency; nor shall such information be admissible as evidence in any court, grand jury, or administrative proceeding unless authorized by the person seeking treatment. If the person seeking such treatment or rehabilitation is a minor who has personally made application for treatment, the fact that the minor sought treatment or rehabilitation or is receiving treatment or rehabilitation services shall not be reported or disclosed to the parents or legal guardian of such minor without the minor’s consent, and the minor may give legal consent to receive such treatment and rehabilitation.

2. Subject to rules adopted by the department, the administrator or the administrator’s designee in charge of a facility may determine who shall be admitted for treatment or rehabilitation. If a person is refused admission, the administrator or the administrator’s designee, subject to rules adopted by the department, shall refer the person to another facility for treatment if possible and appropriate.

3. A person with a substance-related disorder seeking treatment or rehabilitation and who is either addicted or dependent on a chemical substance may first be examined and evaluated by a licensed physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon or a mental health professional who may prescribe, if authorized or licensed to do so, a proper course of treatment and medication, if needed. The licensed physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon or mental health professional may further prescribe a course of treatment or rehabilitation and authorize another licensed physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon, mental health professional, or facility to provide the prescribed treatment or rehabilitation services. Treatment or rehabilitation services may be provided to a person individually or in a group. A facility providing or engaging in treatment or rehabilitation shall not report or disclose to a law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency the name of any person receiving or engaged in the treatment or rehabilitation; nor shall a person receiving or participating in treatment or rehabilitation report or disclose the name of any other person engaged in or receiving treatment or rehabilitation or that the program is in existence, to a law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency. Such information shall not be admitted in evidence in any court, grand jury, or administrative proceeding. However, a person engaged in or receiving treatment or rehabilitation may authorize the disclosure of the person’s name and individual participation.

4. If a patient receiving inpatient or residential care leaves a facility, the patient shall be encouraged to consent to appropriate outpatient or halfway house treatment. If it appears to the administrator in charge of the facility that the patient is a person with a substance-related disorder who requires help, the director may arrange for assistance in obtaining supportive services.

5. If a patient leaves a facility, with or against the advice of the administrator in charge of the facility, the director may make reasonable provisions for the patient’s transportation to another facility or to the patient’s home. If the patient has no home the patient shall be assisted in obtaining shelter. If the patient is a minor or an incompetent person the request for discharge from an inpatient facility shall be made by a parent, legal guardian or other legal representative or by the minor or incompetent if the patient was the original applicant.

6. Any person who reports or discloses the name of a person receiving treatment or rehabilitation services to a law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency or any person receiving treatment or rehabilitation services who discloses the name of any other person receiving treatment or rehabilitation services without the written consent of the person in violation of the provisions of this section shall upon conviction be guilty of a simple misdemeanor.

[C71, 73, §224A.2, 224A.3; C75, 77, §125.16, 224A.2, 224A.3; C79, 81, §125.33]

86 Acts, ch 1001, §7; 86 Acts, ch 1245, §1135; 90 Acts, ch 1085, §9; 2011 Acts, ch 121, §36, 62; 2017 Acts, ch 34, §3

Referred to in §125.3, 125.7, 125.12, 230.20, 321J.3, 331.910