Removal of FAQs about prescriptions on DEA Web site causes turmoil

The agency's "clarification" appears to criminalize a practice now taught in pain medicine programs.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Dec. 20, 2004.

What was once considered a feel-good document co-authored by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration staff and pain medicine experts is now causing ill will, confusion and concern that relations between the agency and the medical community have taken a turn for the worse.

The DEA wrote in the Nov. 16 Federal Register that a "frequently asked questions" document it co-authored with the University of Wisconsin Pain & Policy Studies Group and the Last Acts Partnership contained "misstatements." These included remarks on what could trigger an investigation and the appropriateness of writing multiple prescriptions on the same date. These items in particular have caused concern in the pain medicine community because they appear to reverse policies endorsed in the original document, which was taken off the DEA Web site in October.

The DEA's Nov. 16 interim policy statement said documents must be published in the Federal Register to obtain status as an official policy or statement, and the FAQ document never was. It also stated that a more complete statement responding to agency concerns about the FAQ would be published in the future.

The published announcement included a promise to take "into consideration the views of the medical community." But in the meantime, those involved in the creation of the FAQ say they have had no contact with DEA officials. In contrast, Pain & Policy Studies Group Director David Joranson said there was frequent consultation over the 20 different drafts of the original FAQ document.