The Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday it will allow telehealth companies to continue prescribing certain controlled substances for six additional months without requiring an in-person appointment.
The rule is set to be published in the Federal Register Wednesday, a day before the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, which included the flexibilities. Last week, the DEA announced an extension of flexibilities without specifying a time frame.
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Under the new guidance, any practitioner-patient telemedicine relationships established before Nov. 11, 2023, would extend the full flexibilities afforded during the public health emergency through Nov. 11, 2024.
The flexibilities for remote prescribing were put in place at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency released a proposed rule in February that ended those flexibilities for most controlled substances and essentially reinstated the 2008 Ryan Haight Act.
The proposed rule stated that prescriptions for Schedule II substances like Vicodin, OxyContin, Adderall and Ritalin would return to requiring an in-person visit before they could be prescribed virtually. Schedule III-V substances like codeine, Xanax and Ambien -- as well as buprenorphine, a narcotic used to treat opioid addiction -- could only be prescribed over telehealth for an initial 30-day dose. After the 30 days, patients would need to see a doctor once to get a refill.
The agency said it received a record 38,000 comments on the proposed rule, many of which were critical of the agency.
This story first appeared in Digital Health Business & Technology.
