Last-Minute Biden Prescribing Policies Paused by Trump Agencies

The implementation of regulations allowing more flexibility for doctors looking to prescribe controlled substances online is on hold until the Biden-era rules can be reviewed by the Trump administration.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday issued a notice in the Federal Register that the agencies would pause the effective date of two Biden-era telemedicine prescribing policies until March 21. They agencies also said they would seek public comment regarding that effective date.

The rules were scheduled to become final Feb. 18.

The rules, issued in the final week of the Biden administration, would allow practitioners working for the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine to a VA patient without an in-person evaluation (RIN 1117-AB40) and for civilian doctors to prescribe up to a six-month supply of buprenorphine via an audio-only consultation (RIN 1117-AB78).

The move comes after President Donald Trump issued a memorandum Jan. 20 informing all federal agencies to pause issuing or publishing any regulations until they can be reviewed by the new administration. Agencies should consider postponing and opening a public comment period for pending rules, Trump’s order said.

The delay of the two pending rules also will allow the agencies “further opportunity to review any potential questions of fact, law, and policy raised by those two final rules,” according to Friday’s notice.

The notice comes as the DEA faced intense lobbying from the telemedicine industry to maintain the continuity of care brought by pandemic-era waivers of restrictions on controlled substance prescribing.

Most of these prescribing waivers were temporarily extended through the American Relief Act in late December but are set to expire March 31.