A Small But Certain Step Toward Removing the “X” Waiver

Jeffrey A. SingerOn January 14,  the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new,relaxed guidelines for physicians wishing to prescribe buprenorphine to their patients with opioid use disorder. While the so ‐​called “X” waiver required of prescribers remains, thenew guidelines permit physicians (not nurse practitioners or physician assistants) to prescribe buprenorphine without the waiver. They may only prescribe to patients located within their own state and they may have no more than 30 opioid use disorder patients on buprenorphine at any time.Buprenorphine is a  synthetic opioid that was developed to treat pain. It is only a partial opioid agonist, and therefore is less prone to suppress the respiratory mechanism in high doses. Since the early part of this century, it has been used for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. Practiti oners have been allowed to prescribe and dispense buprenorphine to their patients and follow them as outpatients in their office. Unfortunately,onerous federal regulations apply.Under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000, practitioners who wish to treat substance use disorder with buprenorphine are required to obtain an “X waiver.” Providers must take an 8‐​hour course in order to have the ”X” added to their Drug Enforcement Administration narcotics prescribing license. There are also strict limits on how many patients a practitioner can treat at any given time, as well as restric...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs