On October 10, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in collaboration with the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued a temporary rule extending for a second time regulatory
exceptions related to prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine.
Under the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, a registered practitioner may
prescribe—subject to certain exceptions—controlled medications to a patient only after conducting at
least one in-person evaluation of the patient. To prevent lapses in care during the COVID-19 pandemic,
the DEA temporarily allowed practitioners to prescribe schedule II–V controlled medications to a patient
via telemedicine prior to conducting an in-person evaluation, so long as certain conditions were met. In
May 2023, the DEA and HHS issued a temporary rule to modify and extend some of those flexibilities,
allowing registered practitioners to prescribe schedule II-V controlled medications via audio-video
telemedicine encounters, while also permitting the prescribing of schedule III-V narcotic medications for
the treatment of opioid use disorder (e.g., buprenorphine) via audio-only telemedicine encounters,
without first requiring an in-person medical evaluation. That temporary rule was set to expire on
November 11, 2024. The second temporary rule renews the existing exceptions through December 31,
2024.
Read more about the second temporary extension.