DEA to let doctors write advance prescriptions for schedule II refills

The move would allow "do not fill before ..." prescriptions, but the government won't set out rules to help doctors avoid trouble when treating pain.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Oct. 2, 2006.

In an apparent effort to mend its relations with physicians and pain patients, the Drug Enforcement Administration last month proposed a rule that would allow doctors to write multiple prescriptions for schedule II drugs during a single office visit. The total amount prescribed could not exceed a 90-day supply.

The proposed rule, open for comment until Nov. 6, would reverse part of a November 2004 interim policy statement that said preparing "multiple prescriptions on the same day with instructions to fill on different dates is tantamount to writing a prescription authorizing refills of a schedule II" drug, illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.

The DEA clarified last year that the 2004 policy statement doesn't require patients already under a physician's supervision to visit the doctor for a new schedule II prescription. The agency said physicians could mail new prescriptions to the patient or the pharmacy. They also could write a prescription for longer than 30 days, the DEA said. But few doctors used that option, still allowed under the proposed rule, because of worries it might increase the likelihood of diversion or abuse. Also, most insurers won't pay for prescriptions exceeding a month's supply.

"We heard from hundreds of doctors and patients about the burdensome requirement of repeated visits to a doctor's office each month to get a new prescription for an already diagnosed chronic condition such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or chronic pain," DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy said in prepared remarks. "We hope to fix that."