§60A-5-504. Cooperative arrangements; confidentiality; treatment of minor without knowledge or consent of parent or guardian.

(a) The state Board of Pharmacy and the appropriate departments, boards, and agencies, as specified in section 301, shall cooperate with federal and other state agencies in discharging their responsibilities concerning traffic in controlled substances and in suppressing the abuse of controlled substances. To this end, they may:

(1) Arrange for the exchange of information among governmental officials concerning the use and abuse of controlled substances;

(2) Coordinate and cooperate in training programs concerning controlled substance law enforcement at local and state levels;

(3) Cooperate with the bureau by establishing a centralized unit to accept, catalogue, file, and collect statistics, including records of drug dependent persons and other controlled substance law offenders within the state, and make the information available for federal, state, and local law enforcement purposes. They shall not furnish the name or identity of a patient or research subject whose identity could not be obtained under subsection (c); and

(4) Conduct programs of eradication aimed at destroying wild or illicit growth of plant species from which controlled substances may be extracted.

(b) Results, information, and evidence received from the bureau relating to the regulatory functions of this chapter, including results of inspections conducted by it may be relied and acted upon by the state Board of Pharmacy in the exercise of its regulatory functions under this chapter.

(c) A practitioner engaged in medical practice or research is not required or compelled to furnish the name or identity of a patient or research subject to the state Board of Pharmacy or to the appropriate department, board, or agency by which he is licensed or registered, as specified in section 301, nor may he be compelled in any state or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings to furnish the name or identity of an individual that the practitioner is obligated to keep confidential.

(d) No mental health organization or hospital shall be compelled in any state or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative or other proceeding to furnish the name or identity of any person voluntarily requesting treatment for or rehabilitation from addiction to or dependency upon the use of a controlled substance as defined in article one of this chapter.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any licensed physician or competent medically trained person under his direction may examine, diagnose, and treat any minor at his or her request for any addiction to or dependency upon the use of a controlled substance as defined in article one of this chapter without the knowledge or consent of the minor's parent or guardian. Such physician and such other persons shall not incur any civil or criminal liability in connection therewith except for negligence or willful injury.