The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued the “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications” – a temporary rule that extends telemedicine flexibilities adopted during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The temporary rule will take effect immediately upon the expiration of the PHE on May 11, 2023, and contains two specific provisions:
- Extends the full set of telemedicine flexibilities adopted during the COVID-19 public health emergency for six months – through November 11, 2023.
- For any practitioner-patient telemedicine relationships that have been or will be established up to November 11, 2023, the full set of telemedicine flexibilities regarding prescription of controlled medications established during the COVID-19 PHE will be extended for one year – through November 11, 2024.
The DEA/SAMHSA announcement can be found here.