As the COVID-19 public health emergency nears its end, the Biden administration is seeking to extend telehealth flexibilities that allowed doctors to virtually prescribe controlled substances to their patients.
Prescribing controlled substances via telehealth was limited before the COVID-19 pandemic under the Ryan Haight Act, which is a 2008 amendment to the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. The law, in part, requires doctors to see their patients in person before prescribing controlled substances via telehealth.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) temporarily lifted the requirement for doctors to evaluate their patients in person before prescribing the controlled substances. This applied to all schedule II–V controlled substances, and enabled patients to access care amid lockdowns….