DEA Extends Telehealth Prescribing through 2025

Agency needs time to develop ‘path forward for telemedicine’

November 18, 2024

For the third time, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has extended the COVID-19 flexibilities that have allowed clinicians to virtually prescribe certain medications through 2025.

In a release Friday, the agency said it needed additional time to consider thousands of public comments about these pandemic-era flexibilities.

“We continue to carefully consider the input received and are working to promulgate a final set of telemedicine regulations. However, with the end of 2024 quickly approaching, DEA, jointly with (Health and Human Services), has extended current telemedicine flexibilities through December 31, 2025,” the agency said in a statement.

Among the key takeaways:

• The issue:  The DEA and federal health agencies have been working to update telehealth prescribing rules from the pandemic that allowed virtual prescribing for certain medications without an in-person visit.
• Extension details:  This extension authorizes all DEA-registered practitioners to prescribe schedule II-V controlled medications via telehealth through December 31, 2025.
• Advocacy in action:  During 2023, HAP and other provider organizations raised concerns about a DEA proposal that would have limited prescribing of certain FDA drugs for detoxification treatment (buprenorphine) based on a telehealth encounter to a 30-day supply and required an in-person visit for a refill.
• Reasons for delay:  The DEA said it needed additional time “to consider a new path forward for telemedicine.” The agency said it did not want to reduce access to care for patients, create backlogs for in-person medical evaluations, or remove access to buprenorphine as a medication for opioid use disorder, in particular.
• Quotable:  “Crucially, this will prevent harmful interruptions in the delivery of necessary patient care dependent on continued virtual prescribing of controlled substances without a prior in-person evaluation and ensure adequate time for rulemaking to establish a permanent pathway,” the American Hospital Association said in an advocacy letter last month requesting the extension.

HAP continues to advocate for telehealth flexibilities to support access to care, especially for patients with opioid use disorder and other behavioral health needs. Additional information about the DEA’s announcement is available online.