Fierce Healthcare By Annie Burky Telehealth providers and advocates are balking at proposed telemedicine rules released by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) late Friday. If made permanent, the rules would be a marked change from the suspension of the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, which propelled a telepsychiatry boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the proposed rule released by the DEA, developed in concert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and in coordination with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, some medications would require an in-person doctor’s visit. Controlled substances (PDF) including stimulants like Adderall and opioids such as oxycodone and buprenorphine used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) would require at least one in-person visit.
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) is one of many groups calling the new rule more restrictive than warranted.
“Our concern lies with the potential public health crisis this could cause for individuals needing access to clinically appropriate prescriptions of controlled substances for a wide variety of medical circumstances, including for mental health and substance use disorders,” Kyle Zebley, the ATA’s senior vice president of public policy, said in a press release. “The continuity of care for countless Americans will be severed, potentially leaving these patients to fall through the cracks of our healthcare system without access to needed medications.”
Under the proposed rule, Schedule II medications or narcotics would require (PDF) an in-person prescription. Schedule III or higher medications, including buprenorphine, can be prescribed for 30 days via telehealth but would require an in-person visit before a refill. Non-narcotic drugs like Ambien, Valium, Xanax and ketamine also fall into this category. If a patient is referred to a provider, an in-person appointment is not required as long as one took place with the referring physician.
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