DEA releases e-prescribing regs for controlled drugs

After months of waffling, the Drug Enforcement Administration has finally come out with regulations that would allow doctors to prescribe controlled drugs such as opiates electronically. These regs could prove to be a turning point in the emergence of e-prescribing generally, as many physicians have complained that switching from paper for controlled drugs to e-prescribing for the others was too awkward to sustain.

The new regs are designed to fight forgery by imposing a "closed system of controls" on dispensing of controlled substances. Ideally, the new system will actually cut prescription forgery levels by helping pharmacists and DEA officials to more easily trace controlled-substance scripts to legitimate prescribers. They could also make sure that the meds get dispensed by the intended pharmacist and received by the intended patient. Of course, e-prescribing these scripts would also have the benefit of avoiding illegibly-written prescriptions, as it does for non-controlled drugs.

To learn more about the pending rules:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

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