Source: http://atforum.com/2017/04/tennessee-bill-place-full-liability-otps-car-accidents/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 21:52:58+00:00

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A bill winding its way through the Tennessee legislature would make opioid treatment programs (OTPs) liable for any injury or death caused by a patient who had just received methadone. This is similar to laws that hold restaurants and bars liable for injuries or deaths caused by people driving drunk after consuming alcohol at their establishments.
OTPs say the proposal is unfair because it doesn’t take into account the fact that the accident may be caused by the other person, or by something unrelated to methadone.
Patients treated with a therapeutic dose of methadone are not sedated. What is distressing about the bill is that it assumes that they are, OTPs say. “Someone could be completely functional, not impaired in any way, and if someone else hits them, it would put the treatment center in a liability situation,” Ms. Crowley told AT Forum.
The bill includes a defense to liability if the clinic tried to prevent the patient from driving, and according to Representative Van Huss, applies only if the driver was impaired.
Tennessee is sorely in need of more OTPs. The legislation was drafted because there will soon be more OTPs—including a jointly operated program to open in Gray, run by Mountain States Health Alliance and East Tennessee State University (ETSU).
Behavioral Health Group runs 10 of the 12 OTPs in the state, and Derek Walsh, vice president of operations, testified against the bill at the committee hearing in early April. “If the logic around the bill is that we’re going to punish health care providers that provide narcotics to patients, and hold them accountable for patient actions after they leave, that shouldn’t be singularly affecting the 12 opioid treatment programs in the state of Tennessee,” Mr. Walsh said, according to the Johnson City Press.
“There are lots of places that gives patients narcotics. If we’re going to apply a rule, it should be fairly applied to anybody who dispenses narcotics.” Mr. Walsh added that OTPs already conduct the procedures the bill cites as defenses to liability. “I’ve personally taken patients’ keys before to keep them from driving,” he added. OTPs take issue with the bill because it treats them as the only providers of opioid treatment, he said.
Mountain States Vice President Lindy White called the bill “discriminatory” and said it would create more stigma for patients.
Here is the most recent text of the bill (House Bill 1033): A nonresidential substitution-based treatment center for opiate addiction, as defined by § 68-11-1602, shall be liable for damage or injuries caused by a patient who, upon leaving the treatment center after receiving treatment, commits driving under the influence under § 55-10-401, vehicular assault under § 39-13-106, aggravated vehicular assault under § 39-13-115, vehicular homicide under § 39-13-213(a)(2), or aggravated vehicular homicide under § 39-13-218, and the patient’s impairment is due to the treatment provided by the center. (b) It shall be a defense to liability under subsection (a) that the nonresidential substitution-based treatment center for opiate addiction took reasonable efforts to prevent the patient from driving while impaired. Reasonable efforts include, but are not limited to: (1) Offering to call a friend, relative, or taxi to transport the patient; or (2) Immediately notifying law enforcement that an employee of the center has either observed the patient leave treatment by driving in an impaired state or heard the patient’s stated intent to drive while the patient was in an impaired state.
The bill would take effect July 1, 2017. The Gray OTP is set to open in August.

References: § 68
 § 55
 § 39
 § 39
 § 39
 § 39