Joseph Kvedar March 23, 2023
Disreputable, online pharmacies have been a thorn in the side of telehealth for a long time. Because both are internet-based transactions, they are often conflated, and some telehealth companies own their own pharmacy, so it is admittedly complicated.
The main fear regarding online prescribing is that unscrupulous prescribers and pharmacies may be able to distribute controlled substances illegally, at scale. To avoid this, in 2008, Congress passed the Ryan Haight Act, which requires a patient to have an in-person doctor exam in order to get a prescription for certain controlled substances.
During the Covid-19 public health emergency (PHE), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) used enforcement discretion to allow practitioners to prescribe certain controlled substances based on telehealth visits alone....