DEA to Extend Telehealth Flexibilities for Controlled Substances a Third Time
Behavioral Health Business October 15, 2024
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will extend its telehealth flexibilities past the end of the year.
Health care providers that have linked telehealth and controlled substance prescribing have been staring down a regulatory cliff following inaction by Congress on the issue. Twice already, the DEA has extended COVID-era regulation that provided wide flexibility when it comes to the use of telehealth.
Those flexibilities will end Dec. 31, 2024. The resumption of these rules would, among other things, require patients to first be seen in person before they can be treated via telehealth and receive controlled substances.
On Oct. 10, the DEA submitted a final rule to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees the coordination and...