Following the Senate’s recent confirmation of Terry Cole as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), more than 200 organizations have sent a letter urging him to take action to preserve access to the remote prescribing of controlled substances.
The organizations include the Alliance for Connected Care, the American Telemedicine Association, the American Psychiatric Association, Amazon, Bicycle Health, Teladoc and more.
Flexibilities that allowed for the prescribing of controlled substances via telehealth were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic to expand access to care. After being extended several times, the flexibilities are now set to expire at the end of the year.
As the deadline approaches, the organizations in the letter urged the DEA to engage with experts and stakeholders on policies that would “continue access to telehealth while preventing diversion.” They also called for a plan to be put in place by the Fall that would “prevent millions of Americans from losing access to their medical treatments in December of 2025.”
They noted that telehealth has been extremely beneficial for Americans, especially for those in more remote areas.
“For example, as of December 2023, more than half (169 million) of the U.S. population lives in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and broader access to telehealth has been crucial in creating new access to care for these individuals,” they said. “Overly broad restrictions will lead to harsh consequences for many Americans relying on telehealth to access health services.”
During the Biden administration, several policy changes regarding the remote prescribing of controlled substances were introduced, but they faced strong opposition from the telehealth industry.
For example, in the final days of the Biden administration, the DEA released several new telehealth rules, including one that would create a special registration process to allow a clinician to prescribe medications through telemedicine visits without an in-person evaluation. However, the rule had significant restrictions that had telehealth advocates up in arms, such as requiring physicians to be located in the same state as the patient when prescribing certain medications. Advocates previously told MedCity News that the rule interferes with the clinician’s job and creates barriers for patients.
In the letter, the organizations added that the DEA should hold a meeting or forum with experts in the field to create a long-term policy for the remote prescribing of controlled substances.
“Past efforts which did not fully engage stakeholders and Congress had unintended consequences – such as the creation of massive significant new regulatory burdens on the health care systems,” they argued.
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