§ 48–905.01. Cooperative arrangements; confidentiality.

(a) The Mayor shall cooperate with the Board of Education, federal agencies, and other state agencies in discharging the Mayor’s responsibilities concerning traffic in controlled substances and in suppressing the abuse of controlled substances. To this end, the Mayor may:

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

(2) Coordinate and cooperate in training programs concerning controlled substance law enforcement within the District of Columbia.

(b) Results, information, and evidence received from the D.E.A. relating to the regulatory functions of this chapter, including results of inspections conducted by it, may be relied and acted upon by the Mayor in the exercise of the Mayor’s regulatory functions under this chapter.

(c)(1) A practitioner engaged in medical practice or research shall not nor shall be compelled to:

(A) Furnish to the Mayor the name or identity of a patient or research subject without the prior consent of the patient or research subject; or

(B) Furnish the name or identity of an individual that the practitioner is obligated to keep confidential in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings in the District of Columbia without prior consent of such individual.

(2) This section per se shall not limit, in a criminal investigation or prosecution or in an administrative proceeding by the Commission on Licensure to Practice the Healing Art in the District of Columbia, the authority to subpoena dispensing logs or other records of a practitioner containing information concerning the sale, prescription, or distribution of controlled substances under this chapter. The court may order sealed any information furnished without consent, pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.