The Drug Enforcement Agency and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration extended the allowances for physicians to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person evaluation until November.
Providers can prescribe controlled substances including Adderall online through Nov. 11, according to a copy of the temporary rule posted May 9. It extends the allowances granted by a rule from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that was designed to limit person-to-person virus transmission.
Under the rule, providers can prescribe controlled substances for an additional year if they have an established relationship with a patient by Nov. 11.
"The DEA received a record 38,000 comments on its proposed telemedicine rules. We take those comments seriously and are considering them carefully," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a May 9 news release. "We recognize the importance of telemedicine in providing Americans with access to needed medications, and we have decided to extend the current flexibilities for six months while we work to find a way forward to give Americans that access with appropriate safeguards."