With the end of the public health emergency for the outbreak rapidly approaching, the Drug Enforcement Administration has submitted plans to continue prescription flexibilities for telemedicine that were used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The extension will allow physicians to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person evaluation. Regulators were strongly nudged to move with caution: The DEA claims it received more than 38,000 related comments on proposed rules limiting telehealth prescriptions.
Following the deluge of comments, the DEA and the Department of Health and Human Services submitted a draft temporary rule to the Office of Management and Budget so that the telehealth flexibilities for controlled substances could continue.
“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,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement Wednesday.
It’s not yet known how long the extension will last. But more details about the rule will be available once it’s published in the Federal Register, the DEA noted.
Prescribed medications fall into two general categories. Those that are controlled and those that are not.
Most prescriptions for chronic conditions and infections are non-controlled. For example, this includes medications used to treat cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.
Controlled substances are viewed with far more caution, as they may lead to physical and mental dependence. In skilled nursing and senior living, such treatments include antidepressants, antipsychotics and opioids.
Controlled substance use, particularly among older people, also can put users at higher risk for falls, injuries, hospitalizations and other mishaps.
