DEA Delays Proposed Telehealth, Buprenorphine Rules

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)has delayed finalizing two proposed rules that were set to go into effect after theCOVID-19 public health emergency expires on May 11. The proposed rules, if finalized, would affect how health professionals implement telehealth services and prescribe certain controlled medications, including medications for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and opioid use disorder (OUD). The DEA received 38,000 comments in response to the proposed rules, which wereannounced on February 24. Instead of finalizing the rules, the DEA, in concert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has submitted a draft temporary rule to the Office of Management and Budget titled “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications.”If finalized, the proposed rules would extend certain flexibilities for telehealth services after the COVID-19 public health emergency expires. Yet in several ways the proposed rules are more restrictive than what the public health emergency has allowed, thus garnering a backlash from stakeholders in public health. For example,the first proposed rule (Docket No. DEA –407) would prohibit health professionals who offer telehealth services from prescribing Schedule II controlled substances such as methylphenidate (Ritalin), mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall, etc.), and opioid pain relievers (Vicodin, Oxycontin, etc.) and Schedule III-V narcotics ot...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Anne Milgram APA controlled substances DEA Department of Health and Human Services Drug Enforcement Administration opioid use disorder telehealth Source Type: research