On Dec. 30, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) jointly with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a fourth temporary extension (PDF) of COVID-19 telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances through Dec. 31, 2026. Current flexibilities were set to expire at the end of 2025 [refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 22, 2024]. This extension allows health care practitioners to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled substances to patients via telemedicine, without an initial in-person evaluation for an additional year.
According to the fourth extension, this additional time will allow the agency “to ensure a smooth transition for patients and providers that have come to rely on the availability of telemedicine to prescribe controlled substances to patients for whom they have never had an in-person medical evaluation, and allow sufficient time for providers to come into compliance with any new DEA registration, recordkeeping, or security requirements eventually adopted in a final set of regulations.”