[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 38, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 38CFR1.485]

[Page 32]
 
            TITLE 38--PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND VETERANS' RELIEF
 
                CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
 
PART 1_GENERAL PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  1.485  Medical emergencies.

    (a) General rule. Under the procedures required by paragraph (c) of 
this section, patient identifying information from records covered by 
Sec. Sec.  1.460 through 1.499 of this part may be disclosed to medical 
personnel who have a need for information about a patient for the 
purpose of treating a condition which poses an immediate threat to the 
health of any individual and which requires immediate medical 
intervention.
    (b) Special rule. Patient identifying information may be disclosed 
to medical personnel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who 
assert a reason to believe that the health of any individual may be 
threatened by an error in the manufacture, labeling, or sale of a 
product under FDA jurisdiction, and that the information will be used 
for the exclusive purpose of notifying patients or their physicians of 
potential dangers.
    (c) Procedures. Immediately following disclosure, any VA employee 
making an oral disclosure under authority of this section shall make an 
accounting of the disclosure in accordance with the Privacy Act (5 
U.S.C. 552a(c) and 38 CFR 1.576(c)) and document the disclosure in the 
patient's records setting forth in writing:
    (1) The name and address of the medical personnel to whom disclosure 
was made and their affiliation with any health care facility;
    (2) The name of the individual making the disclosure;
    (3) The date and time of the disclosure;
    (4) The nature of the emergency (or error, if the report was to 
FDA);
    (5) The information disclosed; and
    (6) The authority for making the disclosure (Sec.  1.485 of this 
part).

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7332(b)(2)(A))