On March 17, 2020, U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released guidance clarifying that restrictions under the Ryan Haight Act (the Act) are removed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing health care practitioners to prescribe controlled substances to patients through the use of telemedicine without any “in-person medical evaluation.” The Act generally prohibits practitioners from dispensing controlled substances through the internet without an in-person evaluation, unless an applicable exception is met. One exception to the Act occurs in the event of a public health emergency, which was triggered when HHS Secretary Alex Azar declared an emergency in response to COIVD-19 effective January 31, 2020. Practitioners now have the go-ahead to prescribe controlled substances through telemedicine technology without compliance with the Act’s requirements, but only for the duration of the public health emergency due to COVID-19.
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