DEA to extend COVID-19 telehealth prescribing flexibilities

After reviewing a record 38,000 comments on proposed rules limiting telehealth prescriptions for buprenorphine and other controlled substances after the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Health and Human Services “have decided to extend the current flexibilities while we work to find a way forward to give Americans that access with appropriate safeguards,” the DEA announced May 3. The agencies last week submitted a draft temporary rule to the Office of Management and Budget and will release further details on the rule after it’s published in the Federal Register.

AHA has urged the DEA to establish a special registration process (as statutorily mandated) to waive the in-person evaluations for practitioners who register with the agency, and until then to waive the requirement as it has during the COVID-19 public health emergency, among other changes.