Opioid addiction doctors want telehealth rules to stay relaxed
Doctors treating patients with opioid-use disorder want pandemic-era telehealth rules to stay relaxed, according to a new survey. Tens of thousands of people in the United States die each year from opioid overdoses, and telehealth makes it easier to connect people who are at risk of overdose with treatments.
“Continued flexibility would allow more individuals to access life-saving treatment,” study author Tamara Beetham, who studies health policy and management at the Yale School of Public Health, said in a statement.
Before 2020, doctors could only prescribe controlled substances after an in-person visit with a patient. Controlled substances include medications like Xanax and Adderall, but they also include buprenorphine and...