Update on Controlled Substances and Telehealth Prescribing
On June 14th the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) submitted their long-awaited final rule for telehealth prescribing of controlled substances to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a final rule before publication. The rules are expected to be published sometime prior to December 2024. As previously reported, in May 2023 the DEA had temporarily extended the COVID-19 telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances. By way of background, The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 requires prescribers to conduct an in-person examination to evaluate each new patient at least once before prescribing a controlled substance. After...
DEA Extends COVID Telemedicine Prescribing Rules for Controlled Substances
UPDATE: DEA and HHS Extend Telemedicine Flexibilities through 2024 October 9, 2023 Statement from the DEA on Telemedicine Flexibilities deadline: "We continue to carefully consider the input received and are working to promulgate a final set of telemedicine regulations by the fall of 2024, giving patients and medical practitioners time to plan for, and adapt to, the new rules once issued. Accordingly, DEA, jointly with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has extended current telemedicine flexibilities through December 31, 2024. The full text of the extension, entitled “Second Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled...
DEA Announces Proposed Telemedicine Rule Change for Controlled Substances
On 2/24/23 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced a proposal for permanent rule changes to the Ryan Haight Act that will allow for the prescription of controlled substances through telemedicine, under certain circumstances, after the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) expires on May 11, 2023. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 requires prescribers conduct an in-person examination to evaluate each patient at least once before prescribing a controlled substance, even if a patient has already been taking the medication in question. During the PHE, the in-person requirement was changed to allow prescribers to perform...
On 1/30/23 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, which was first issued in 2020 and extended for another 90 days on January 11th, will not be extended further. Thus, the public health emergency will expire on May 11, 2023. The HHS recently posted a Transition Roadmap Fact Sheet that discusses what will and will not be affected by the expiration of the public health emergency. One of the several affected regulations relates to the prescription of controlled substances: “The ability of health care providers to safely dispense controlled substances via...
Read the latest Update on Telehealth Prescribing Controlled Substances - June 2024 In response to the COVID-19 outbreak and escalating pandemic, in January 2020 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) declared a federal public health emergency (PHE) that is still in effect today. The PHE declaration resulted in numerous waivers of federal laws and regulations impacting the practice of medicine, including telehealth, HIPAA, scope of practice, and Stark laws. The PHE also provides healthcare providers with COVID-related liability protections under the PREP Act. Simultaneously, many individual state medical boards instituted waivers around licensure requirements for out-of-state physicians...