Addressing complaints about FBI Director Kash Patel’s conduct, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee requested that Patel take a 10-question alcohol screening test — but experts say the results wouldn’t formally constitute a diagnosis.
Dr. Joshua Lee, a clinician-researcher focused on addiction and a professor of Population Health and Medicine/General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation at NYU, told HuffPost that the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, or AUDIT, is a “screening instrument” rather than the key to a concrete diagnosis.
“It is a way for me to talk to you and get a sense for the likelihood of an actual alcohol use disorder,” Lee said. “It is akin to something you’d fill out about whether or not you had depression, but I can’t diagnose and treat depression until I have further interviewed the patient.”
AUDIT has been the most widely used alcohol screening test globally since its publication in 1989. The test is a 10-item questionnaire by the World Health Organization “to assess alcohol consumption, drinking behaviors and alcohol-related problems.” The test is publicly available and features two formats: One is read aloud by an interviewer — usually a medical professional — while the second is a self-reported version. Patel has the option to choose between the two.
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The screening asks questions such as, “How often during the last year have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you started?” and “How often during the last year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?” The answers correlate to a certain number of points, which are then totaled at the end.
“There’s a reliable correlation between high scores on AUDIT and severity of an eventual diagnosis, so it’s very helpful,” Lee said. But the AUDIT scores do not stand alone — the patient taking the AUDIT would have to agree to continue speaking with doctors before being diagnosed.
“The test itself, with its scoring, does not say ‘this person could be an alcoholic’ by any means,” Lee said. “We haven’t made the diagnosis. We still have to do further testing.”
While the test has proven helpful, it also relies on the test taker being completely honest. Some could lie about their answers.
“You could downgrade your use of alcohol … and then you would have a lower score when, in fact, the kind of truth would be that you have a high score and more problems,” Lee said. “But it would be up to you to answer truthfully. If you have the person’s real test result, it’s a great foundation for talking to an individual about their alcohol use.”
The committee, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), also requested that Patel issue a sworn statement validating the accuracy of his answers by 5 p.m. ET on April 28.
Is it ethical to make an employee take the AUDIT test?
Employers are legally allowed to conduct alcohol testing on active employees if it’s suspected that it’s impacting job-related functions. As the FBI director, Patel is being accused of violating the Department of Justice’s Ethics Handbook, which he has to agree to within 90 days of stepping into the role. One of the regulations says that employees are “prohibited from habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to excess” both on- and off-duty.
According to the Judiciary Committee’s letter to Patel, “a damning and explosive report recently revealed that the men and women of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are privately — and at times publicly — alarmed by your ‘episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.’” (The aforementioned “report” refers to “The Atlantic’s” April 17 story.)
Should Patel take the test, it’s unlikely that the results would be publicized, Lee said, since AUDIT results are generally protected under laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Democrats only requested that Patel share the answers with Congress.
Even though the results are not a diagnosis, it’s unclear what could happen if Patel scores highly on the test. The committee’s letter did not state what would happen after Patel sends in his scores.
Should he refuse to take the test or submit the findings, “the Committee will be requiring him to appear at a hearing in person and under oath to address Members’ well-founded concerns,” the letter stated.
Why is Kash Patel being accused of intoxication?
Patel denied drinking on the job at a Justice Department press conference on Tuesday, defending the footage of him chugging a beer in the locker room with the U.S. men’s ice hockey team after they won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
“I’ve never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit,” he said on Tuesday. Patel sued The Atlantic for $250 million, claiming it published “false and obviously fabricated allegations” against him. The Atlantic said in a statement on Monday that it stands by its reporting on Patel.
“Any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on,” he said. “I’ll see you in court.”
Democrats are hoping to remove Patel from the Trump administration, House Minority Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told MS NOW on Tuesday. Following the recent departures of former Attorney General Pam Bondi, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Jeffries said Democrats hope that Patel and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be “on their way out the door as well.”
Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.
