New Flexibility for Physicians Managing Patients with Opioid Use Disorder
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has partnered with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to ensure authorized practitioners may admit and treat new patients with opioid use disorder during the current public health emergency. The DEA previously announced that practitioners can prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine with a prior in-person evaluation. This new guidance allows practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine via telephone without prior telemedicine examination. Read the full statement here.
Guidance on Buprenorphine and Methadone Treatment during COVID-19
The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration has released guidance on buprenorphine and methadone treatment in the COVID-19 pandemic. Prescribing buprenorphine (suboxone/subutex) for opioid use disorder no longer requires an in-person evaluation, although providing methadone via a methadone clinic still does.
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