On May 03, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram released a statement signaling the agency’s intention to expand flexibility for providers in certain circumstances to allow prescribing of certain controlled substances during telehealth visits after the end of the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS)’s public health emergency declaration on May 11.
During the pandemic, the DEA waived multiple regulatory requirements to enable providers to prescribe certain controlled substances via telehealth without previously having an in-person visit with a patient. The statement (titled “Statement from the DEA Administrator Anne Milgram on COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications”) comes in response to industry backlash against a DEA proposed rule released in February that would have restricted prescriptions of controlled substances without an in-person visit following the end of the public health emergency.
According to the statement, the agency received “a record 38,000 comments” on its proposed telemedicine rules. In part, the statement said, “We take those comments seriously and are considering them carefully. We recognize the importance of telemedicine in providing Americans with access to needed medications, and we have decided to extend the current flexibilities while we work to find a way forward to give Americans that access with appropriate safeguards.”
Further details will become public after full publication of the rule in the Federal Register.