Navigation Attorney General Moody Leads Multistate Effort Urging DEA to Extend Telehealth Capabilities for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Attorney General Ashley Moody is leading a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general urging the extension of emergency rules to aid those suffering with opioid use disorder. The attorneys general are calling on the Drug Enforcement Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to permanently extend telehealth flexibilities for prescribing buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder treatment. Buprenorphine is one of three medications that is FDA-approved to treat patients suffering from addiction. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration allowed telehealth services to prescribe the medication, but this rule is set to expire when the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.
The nation is in the grips of an opioid crisis, with more than 100,000 Americans dying due to overdose last year alone. State attorneys general are on the front lines fighting the crisis to protect Americans from deadly synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Attorney General Moody recognizes that interdiction efforts alone will not end the crisis.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “As we continue to fight the deadly opioid crisis claiming tens of thousands of lives across our nation, it is important that people struggling with addiction have access to medication that can help them stop using. Keeping the telehealth rules for prescribing buprenorphine in place will go far in helping us fight this crisis and save lives—and I am proud to lead a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in this important effort.”
