Section 1262 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (also known as Omnibus bill), removes the federal requirement for practitioners to submit a Notice of Intent (have a waiver) to prescribe medications, like buprenorphine, for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). With this provision, and effective immediately, all practitioners who have a current DEA registration that includes Schedule III authority, may now prescribe buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder in their practice with no limitations to the number of patients served.
DEA notification can be found here: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/docs/index.html and SAMHSA notification can be found here:https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment/removal-data-waiver-requirement
We hope and encourage more family physicians to join their peers in treating addiction and substance use disorder now when fewer than 1 out of 10 Americans who need treatment can access it. CAFP is involved in many efforts to help providers gain the knowledge and confidence to begin offering MOUD. For more information from CAFP go to https://www.familydocs.org/sud/.
Also part of the Omnibus bill is a training requirement for new DEA registration and DEA renewals. DEA and SAMHSA are actively working to provide further guidance on new regulations to become effective this summer. We understand there will be mandatory training to include 8 hours for new DEA applicants and some training for DEA renewals.
