DEA’s temporary telemedicine flexibilities run through Dec 31, 2026. After that, each prescription has to fit a rule: an in-person evaluation, one of the Ryan Haight Act’s exceptions, the buprenorphine or VA rules that took effect Dec 31, 2025, or whatever DEA finalizes for special registration. We map your patients and prescribers to those rules and build the workflow, and refresh the plan when the final rule publishes.
Who it is for: Practices and companies that prescribe Schedule II–V medications by telemedicine: ADHD, psychiatry, addiction treatment, testosterone, sleep.
What's included
- Which patients and prescribers each scenario affects, by medication and state
- The rule each prescription will rely on after Dec 31, 2026
- A registration gap map: where each prescriber needs DEA and state controlled-substance registrations
- PDMP check and recordkeeping workflow
- In-person evaluation planning where it will be required
- A free refresh when DEA publishes its final special registration rule
DEA and state controlled-substance registration filings are handled by our sister teams for physicians, NPs and PAs.
Questions
- Is the DEA special registration rule final?
- Not as of October 2026. DEA proposed it in January 2025 and sent a final rule for White House review in August 2026. We plan against the rules in force and refresh your plan when the final rule publishes.
- What if the flexibilities are extended again?
- Then the plan still stands, with more time to put it in place. DEA has extended them four times; nobody can promise a fifth.