On February 2, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Final Rule that expands access to medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) via telehealth modalities and “take-home” doses....more
This month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), in conjunction with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”), issued a Second Temporary Rule further extending the telemedicine waivers...more
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have further extended flexibilities that allow providers to prescribe controlled substances...more
On October 6, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a temporary rule providing for a second temporary extension of its COVID-19 telemedicine...more
Reversing previously proposed rules, the DEA recently issued new guidance allowing the continued use of telehealth when prescribing controlled substances following the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency (“PHE”)....more
Since the declaration of the public health emergency due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registered practitioners have been able to prescribe controlled substances, without a prior in-person...more
This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), in conjunction with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”), issued a temporary rule extending the telemedicine waivers of the Ryan...more
Two days ahead of the expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a temporary rule extending...more
On May 10, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released a new regulation – “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications” – temporarily extending the “full set” of...more
The Big Picture - On February 24, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued two proposed rules that address the prescribing of controlled...more
On February 24, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced proposed rules for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine after the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency expires. The proposed rules are open for public...more
One of the spillover effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the increase in opioid-related deaths. These deaths overwhelmingly affect working-class Americans with limited access and resources to lifesaving drugs such as...more
For the year ending August 2020, provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that opioid overdose deaths increased 26.8 percent compared to the previous 12 months, with opioid overdoses...more
Editors’ Note: As COVID-19 rips through the country, an often-overlooked population at extraordinarily high risk is the nearly 2 million adults with opioid use disorder (OUD). This group faces a perfect storm of health and...more
To assist healthcare providers and others in the industry during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has issued guidance addressing specific areas of concern, including practitioner...more
As federal agencies scramble to provide regulatory relief from the fall-out of the coronavirus pandemic taking hold in the United States, several waivers and bulletins provide guidance specifically applicable to substance use...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Healthcare Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in healthcare regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies, and...more
Prior to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) only “physicians” could dispense and prescribe narcotic drugs for maintenance and detoxification treatment. CARA expanded who may prescribe for maintenance...more