Fact checked byShenaz Bagha

Read more

March 31, 2023
2 min read
Save

APA: DEA telehealth guidelines should facilitate access to controlled substances

Fact checked byShenaz Bagha
You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Key takeaways:

  • The American Psychiatric Association urged the Drug Enforcement Administration to ensure access to controlled drugs via telehealth.
  • The organization also recommended fewer prescribing and telehealth limitations.

The American Psychiatric Association has recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration ensure access to buprenorphine and other controlled drugs through telehealth to combat the opioid epidemic and the national mental health crisis.

In a letter addressed to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, JD, the APA advised the DEA to reduce the proposed limitations for prescribing controlled substances, such as requiring referring practitioners to register with the DEA.

The APA urged the DEA to loosen requirements for prescribing buprenorphine for opioid addiction and other controlled substances. Image: Adobe Stock
The APA urged the DEA to loosen requirements for prescribing buprenorphine for opioid addiction and other controlled substances. Image: Adobe Stock

Other recommendations include reducing administrative requirements and restrictions on prescribing when temporarily out of state, eliminating the regulation of clinical decisions and clarifying inconsistencies in the proposed rule.

“We caution DEA in taking too many steps backward, re-imposing unnecessary limitations on the practice of medicine during an opioid public health emergency and nationwide mental health and access to care crisis,” Saul M. Levin, MD, MPA, FRCP-E, FRCPsych, APA CEO and medical director, wrote in the letter. “Fifty-five percent of U.S. counties have no psychiatrists, and 130 million people live in areas with a shortage of mental health providers. DEA has the opportunity to get the balance right by finalizing rules that facilitate, rather than prevent, access to high-quality care.”

In a second letter, the APA focused on access to buprenorphine, which is the only FDA-approved Schedule II narcotic for opioid use disorder. In addition to its recommendations for controlled substances, the APA urged the DEA to remove in-person prescribing requirements for buprenorphine.

“By requiring an in-person examination within 30 days of initiation of buprenorphine, the proposed rule is not just suboptimal but potentially fatal for the most vulnerable populations,” Levin wrote. “At-home induction of buprenorphine has become the standard of care to achieve optimal outcomes. There is no evidence that telemedicine prescribing during the COVID-19 public health emergency increased diversion or negative outcomes associated with access to controlled substances. In fact, initial data indicates that telehealth initiation in OUD care increased retention in treatment.”

References: