What You Should Know:
- Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued the “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications” – a temporary rule that extends telemedicine flexibilities adopted during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).
- · The temporary rule will take effect on May 11, 2023, and extends the full set of telemedicine flexibilities adopted during the COVID-19 public health emergency for six months – through November 11, 2023. For any practitioner-patient telemedicine relationships that have been or will be established up to November 11, 2023, the full set of telemedicine flexibilities regarding the prescription of controlled medications established during the COVID-19 PHE will be extended for one year – through November 11, 2024.
Background
On March 1, 2023, DEA, in concert with HHS, issued notices of proposed rulemakings (NPRM) to allow for prescribing of certain controlled medications via telemedicine without an in-person medical evaluation of the patient under circumstances that are consistent with public health, safety, and effective controls against diversion. The NPRMs received over 38,000 comments from the public and DEA, in collaboration with SAMHSA, is actively reviewing input in order to develop a permanent rule.
