As a healthcare and business law firm, many of our clients come to us with questions relating to the proper ordering and management of controlled substances. As such, we wanted to take this opportunity to point out a recent update to the DEA’s Practitioner’s Manual.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released an updated Practitioner’s Manual on June 14, 2023. This is the first updated version of the manual since 2006. The Practitioner’s Manual provides guidance for all DEA registrants handling controlled substances—including behavioral health centers and physicians—on compliance with the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and DEA regulations. The Practitioner’s Manual can be found here.
Some of the most significant updates include the following:
Registration Requirements
Generally, every practitioner who dispenses, which includes by definition administering and prescribing, controlled substances in schedules II through V, must be registered with DEA. To register or reregister as a practitioner, a DEA Form 224 or Form 224a, respectively, must be completed. The manual includes clarifying information about how practitioners can order, use, fill out, copy, store, cancel, and return the DEA Form 222 used to order, distribute and transfer Schedule I and II controlled substances. The manual also incorporates the optional Controlled Substance Ordering System (CSOS) as a viable alternative to the paper Form 222. Continue reading ›
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