The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is receiving praise from telemedicine advocates for its willingness to consider easing restrictions on prescribing controlled substances through telemedicine. In a notice released on Friday, the DEA stated that it is open to establishing a special registration process that would enable healthcare providers to prescribe certain controlled substances without requiring an in-person medical evaluation.
To gather public input on the issue, the DEA will be hosting a listening session next month. Requests for in-person attendance will be granted through a lottery system, and the agency plans to select a diverse group of presenters. Stakeholder groups and lawmakers, who have been urging the DEA to reconsider its policy, view this meeting as a positive development.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) expressed his satisfaction with the DEA’s decision, saying, “Given the shortage of mental health providers and the increased need for access to prescribers through telehealth, I’m pleased that the DEA is finally looking into establishing a rule to allow specially trained prescribers to continue administering controlled substances virtually without requiring an in-person visit.”
The announcement from the DEA regarding the potential for a special registration process and the listening session has been welcomed by the telehealth lobbying group ATA Action. Kyle Zebley, executive vice president of ATA Action, stated that the group is committed to fully representing the voices of the telehealth community.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the DEA temporarily relaxed its restrictions on controlled substance prescriptions to prevent disruptions in patient care. Previously, patients were required to have at least one in-person visit. The controlled substances covered by this rule include medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety medications, and medications for opioid use disorder.
In February, the DEA proposed new rules that would roll back these flexibilities once the public health emergency declaration ended on May 13. The agency received a record number of comments, with nearly 38,000 individuals expressing concerns about the limitations on prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person evaluation. In May, just before the emergency expired, the DEA announced a temporary extension of telehealth flexibilities until November 11.
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