‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL
PRIVACY
PROTECTIONS.— 
Nothing in this section shall be construed as pre-
empting any State from imposing any additional pri-
vacy protections. 
‘‘(4) CERTAIN
CONFIDENTIALITY
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 
as superseding the confidentiality requirements of 
programs defined by and subject to part 2 of title 
42, Code of Federal Regulations. 
‘‘(5) NO
FEDERAL
PRIVATE
CAUSE
OF
AC-
TION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
create a Federal private cause of action. 
‘‘(j) RELATION TO HIPAA.—Except to the extent in-
consistent with this section, the provision of information 
pursuant to subsection (f) and the subsequent transfer of 
such information are subject to any requirement that 
would otherwise apply under the regulations promulgated 
pursuant to section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Port-
ability and Accountability Act of 1996. 
‘‘(k) PREFERENCE.—Beginning January 1, 2007, 
the Secretary, in awarding any competitive grant that is 
related to drug abuse (as determined by the Secretary) 
to a State, shall give preference to any State with an appli-
cation approved under this section.
‘‘(l) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) complete a study that— 
‘‘(A) determines the progress of States in 
establishing and implementing controlled sub-
stance monitoring programs under this section; 
‘‘(B) determines the progress of States in 
achieving interoperability between controlled 
substance monitoring programs, including an 
assessment of technical and legal barriers to 
such activities and recommendations for ad-
dressing these barriers; 
‘‘(C) determines the feasibility of imple-
menting a real-time electronic controlled sub-
stance monitoring program, including the costs 
associated with establishing such a program; 
and 
‘‘(D) provides an analysis of the privacy 
protections in place for the information re-
ported to the controlled substance monitoring 
program in each State receiving a grant for the 
establishment or operation of such program, 
and a comparison to the privacy requirements 
that apply to covered entities under regulations 
promulgated pursuant to section 264(c) of the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
Act of 1996, along with any recommendations 
for additional requirements for protection of 
this information; and 
‘‘(E) determines the feasibility of imple-
menting technological alternatives to centralized 
data storage, such as peer-to-peer file sharing 
or data pointer systems, in controlled substance 
monitoring programs and the potential for such 
alternatives to enhance the privacy and security 
of individually identifiable data; and 
‘‘(2) submit a report to the Congress on the re-
sults of the study. 
‘‘(m) ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—A State may establish 
an advisory council to assist in the establishment, 
implementation, or improvement of a controlled sub-
stance monitoring program under this section. 
‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
the Congress that, in establishing an advisory coun-
cil under this subsection, a State should consult with 
appropriate professional boards and other interested 
parties. 
‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: