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Police
Seize
Methadone
Treatment
Clinic
Files
9/04/98
FONT SIZE=-1>- Kris Lotlikar On August 14 Fairfax police officers seized the medical record of 79 patients at the Fairfax Methadone Treatment Clinic. The officers obtained a warrant from the local magistrate to search the clinic after a car disappeared which was left in the area. The officers did not give a reason to suspect any from the clinic would be involved and there were several office buildings closer to the scene of the crime. "How can I guarantee my patients any confidentiality when the police think they can come in and help themselves to our records?" Ofelia Sellati, the clinic's program director, told the Washington Post. In an affidavit requesting the warrant Detective Garnett Broderick wrote, "It is common for people who have addictions to various narcotics... to engage in these kinds of criminal activities to support [their] drug addictions." Critics of the police action say the warrant appeared to be unconstitutionally broad and based on drug use stereotypes. To seize drug-treatment records requires a special court order, some privacy experts commented. "We want to be able to help the police when they have a legal right to know," Sellati commented to the Washington Post. "But this was an abuse of power."
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Issue #57, 9/04/98
Gray vs. Satel in Slate Online Magazine | Federal Judge Rejects Oakland Buyers' Club Status, Rejects Government's Call for Immediate Shut-Down | Police Seize Methadone Treatment Clinic Files | In Response to Slaying, "Chad's Law" Will Place Stricter Limits on Use of Children as Informants in California | Judge Finds City-Imposed Restrictions on Scheduled Marijuana Rally Unconstitutional | Survey Finds American Teens Woefully Uninformed about Government | California State Senate Adjourns without Taking Action on Medical Marijuana Research Bill | Afghani Opium Crop Grows Despite Taliban's Promises of Eradication | Editorial: From Ignorance to Tyranny
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