Press reports indicate the Biden administration is planning to halt an important Trump admin rule to end the waiver requirement to prescribe medication to help people struggling with addiction. https://t.co/lUrJaqpdjo
— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) January 27, 2021
Patrice Harris, MD, chair of the AMA’s Opioid Task Force and the organization’s immediate past president, said the following in the AMA’s released statement: “With this change, office-based physicians and physician-led teams working with patients to manage their other medical conditions can also treat them for their opioid use disorder (OUD) without being subjected to a separate and burdensome regulatory regime.”
The newly unveiled practice guidelines cuts through red tape, include an exemption from current certification requirements. It also only applies to physicians already registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration, and limits physicians to treating no more than 30 patients for OUD at a time. Exceptions to this could be made by the HSS for emergency room departments.
Additionally, the policy change only applies to the prescription of drugs or formulations covered under the X-waiver of the Controlled Substance Act, such as buprenorphine. It does not apply to methadone.
