DEA Readies Proposed Rule for E-Rx

HDM Breaking News, February 6, 2008

The Drug Enforcement Administration has sent a proposed rule to the Department of Justice to allow electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The department has been under increasing pressure to promulgate such a rule from the Senate and various health care I.T. stakeholders.

In a letter dated Feb. 1 and sent to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.), the DEA said it had submitted the proposed rule but couldn't predict how long the Department of Justice would take reviewing it. The Office of Management and Budget, which also must review the rule, has up to 90 days to render a decision on it.

Once the Department of Justice and Office of Management and Budget have approved the proposed rule, it can be scheduled for publication in the <I>Federal Register</I>. The DEA then will accept comments on the proposal and draft a final rule.

Current DEA regulations require that doctors write paper prescriptions for controlled substances, including pain medications, antidepressants and some drugs to treat asthma in children. The DEA has been evaluating allowing electronic prescribing since March 2001, when it issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the topic.

Last December, a Senate hearing was held to determine why there was such a delay in following through with a proposed rule. The DEA indicated at that time that an update to the status of a proposed rule likely would be issued within two months.

Following the hearing, several senators sent letters to President Bush and Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking them to encourage the DEA to accelerate its work on promulgating a proposed rule.

For more information, go to whitehouse.senate.gov.

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