I wonder how many prescribers will not be able to get these 8 hrs of certification finished by the end of June ? I am not aware of this has to be accomplished in person or can be done on line via recorded sessions or some other approved methodology ? Wouldn’t it be just like the DEA to require this training/certification to be IN PERSON… knowing that there is not enough presenters nor available training space to accommodate all the number of prescribers that need to complete this certification ? I looked on line but could not find anything about renewing a expired DEA license, knowing the bureaucracy… there is probably a lot of road blocks and/or monetary fines to get it done.
Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits
New DEA License Requirement Starts in June
The X waiver is gone, but clinicians may need new training to renew their DEA license
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/103870
When the Biden administration killed the X waiveropens in a new tab or window late last year, all clinicians registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) learned they would need 8 hours of training on substance use disorder (SUD) management in order to renew their licenses.
The DEA has now issued a deadline for that requirement, and it’s less than 3 months away.
Starting on June 27, all clinicians will have to check a box on their online DEA registration form — whether they’re renewing or initiating a license — affirming they’ve completed that training, according to the DEA’s announcement from last weekopens in a new tab or window.
It’s a one-time requirement that won’t be part of future registration renewals, the DEA said.
Some clinicians will be exempt from completing the 8-hour training, including those who are board-certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry via the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Board of Addiction Medicine, or the American Osteopathic Association.
Clinicians who have completed a “comprehensive curriculum” that included at least 8 hours of training on treating and managing patients with opioid use disorders or other SUDs, including the appropriate clinical use of all drugs approved by the FDA to treat these conditions, will also be exempt.
Clinicians can satisfy the 8-hour training requirement on treating and managing SUDs by completing courses from a list of approved organizations, including the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, and the American Osteopathic Association.
The training doesn’t have to occur in one session, and can be cumulative across multiple sessions, totaling 8 hours, the DEA said. Past trainings can also count toward meeting requirements. For instance, relevant training from one of the qualified groups prior to the enactment of the policy would count toward the 8-hour requirement.
And, of course, previous trainings completed as part of obtaining an X waiver count as well, the agency noted.
Several groups, including the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, declined to comment on the new policy. The American Medical Association issued a press releaseopens in a new tab or window announcing the availability of its free courses that would satisfy the new DEA requirement.
The X waiver was a special DEA certification that allowed clinicians to prescribe buprenorphine (Suboxone) to treat SUDs, and it had long been considered a bureaucratic hurdle to improving access to treatment for these patients.
The Biden administration had been chipping away at barriers to care for patients with SUDs, and in April 2021 it scrapped the X waiver’s training requirements for doctors and other healthcare providers. Those wanting to prescribe buprenorphine only had to register for the waiver in order to do so.
Late last year, the administration’s omnibus spending bill carried language eliminating the X waiver requirement completely. Subsequently, the Medication Access and Training Expansion Act bolstered training requirements by requiring all clinicians with a DEA license to have completed a one-time, 8-hour training on managing patients with opioid use disorder and other SUDs.
Filed under: General Problems
Where does the DEA come up with the education to tell you folks what to do. The only education they have is counting the money or the weight of drugs they confiscate illegally.
Ted
IMO.. all the policies and new regulations that they -ILLEGALLY – created from the CSA… was based on their observations of what abusers/addicts have done… and those poor souls with undiagnosed/untreated mental health issues have become criminals to support their addiction, become homeless and sometimes OD/opioid poisoning… they saw addicts taking Oxycodone, Xanax, Soma .. disregarding how much they were taking at one time or over 24 hr… so the DEA came to the conclusion that those three meds have no valid medical use. From the get-go they came to the conclusion that MJ did not have any valid medicinal use… yet now 40+ states have made it legal – KY just voted medical MJ legal this week. All the “RED FLAG” created was from their observation of what diverters, abusers did… so anyone who followed the same path.. must be a substance user/abuser or diverter… Almost everything the DEA does is based on their observation of human behavior. It seems they have taken the 2016 CDC opioid dosing guidelines and determined that any pt being prescribed >the hypothetical 90 MME is outside of what the DEA has defined standard of care and best practices and thus doses > than that is without a valid medical reason.. and thus ILLEGAL… and the prescriber is acting as a “pill mill”. IMO, most all the “DEA FACTS” used to go after docs have little/no medical science nor double blind clinical trials that support their facts. Our federal judicial system seems to be fairly corrupt and self serving