Telehealth Flexibilities – Down to the wire at year’s end
Lexology December 13, 2024
It’s an exciting time for telehealth companies and telehealth providers. On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) extended the telemedicine prescribing flexibilities for another year through December 31, 2025. Platforms and practitioners leveraging technology to reach patients via audio-video telemedicine encounters can continue providing increased access to care under this Third Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications (the “Third Extension”).
Through 2025, a DEA-registered practitioner is authorized to continue prescribing schedule II-V controlled substances via telemedicine to a patient even when the prescribing practitioner has not conducted an in-person medical evaluation. Historically, under the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008,...