Final Interim Rule: Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances

The DEA recently published its Final Interim Rule regarding Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances. This Rule comes almost two years after the DEA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise its regulations to allow the creation, signature, transmission, and processing of controlled substance prescriptions electronically (73 FR 36722).

The Final Interim Rule provides practitioners with the option of writing electronic prescriptions for controlled substances and pharmacies with the ability to receive, dispense, and archive these electronic prescriptions. These regulations intend to reduce paperwork for DEA registrants who dispense controlled substances, prescription forgery, and the number of prescription errors caused by illegible handwriting and misunderstood oral prescriptions. Additionally, the DEA hopes that the regulations will help pharmacies and hospitals to integrate prescription records into other medical records more directly, increasing efficiency and reducing the amount of time patients spend waiting to have their prescriptions filled.

For more information on the Final Interim Rule, please contact Abby Pendleton, Esq. at (248) 996-8510, or visit the HLP Website.