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  • Washington Highlights

    DEA Plans Special Registration for Telehealth Prescription of Controlled Substances

    Ki Stewart, Senior Policy and Regulatory Analyst
    For Media Inquiries

    The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) jointly with the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a notice of proposed rule rulemaking (NPRM) that would create a special registration system to allow a patient to receive prescribed controlled substances through telemedicine visits without having an in-person medical evaluation from a medical provider. Comments are due March 18.

    Specifically, the DEA and DOJ propose three types of Special Registrations for Telemedicine: (1) a Telemedicine Prescribing Registration for authorizing qualified clinician practitioners to prescribe Schedule III-V controlled substances via telemedicine, (2) an Advanced Telemedicine Prescribing Registration for authorizing qualified, specialized clinician practitioners (e.g., psychiatrists, hospice care physicians) to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled substances via telemedicine, and (3) a Telemedicine Platform Registration for authorizing covered online telemedicine platforms, in their capacity as platform practitioners, to dispense Schedule II-V controlled substances. The agencies also propose to maintain a State Telemedicine Registry that requires practitioners who are participating in the Special Registration to document the state where the patient is located. Under the proposals, special registrants must also verify the identity of the patient, perform a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program check, and prescribe through electronic prescribing for controlled substances.

    The proposed policies would not apply to patients who have received an in-person medical evaluation and do not impact provisions in the Expansion of Buprenorphine Treatment via Telemedicine Encounter final rule (PDF), which allows an initial six months of buprenorphine to be prescribed via audio-visual or audio-only telemedicine encounters beginning February 18 [refer to Washington Highlights, Jan 17].