Date: 10/29/2024
This guidance is intended for prescribers, pharmacists, and other health professionals who help patients access medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Since the end of 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) has received an increase in complaints regarding controlled substance availability at pharmacies. Patients have reported:
•Difficulty in filling their prescriptions for controlled substances-particularly opioids for pain management, benzodiazepines, and buprenorphine. •Having to call or visit multiple retail pharmacies to find one that had their medication in-stock. •Receiving lower doses than their prescriptions called for or not a full supply.
In April 2024, PA DOH joined the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Philadelphia Division to discuss best practices regarding prescribed controlled substances, specifically MOUD. PA DOH invited professional associations for both pharmacists and prescribers; local and chain pharmacies; health care systems and facilities; single county authorities; harm reduction organizations; and state and federal partners to attend this session.
During the session, the DEA Philadelphia Division and PA DOH answered a variety of questions across topics, including DEA investigation and enforcement practices, the different forms of MOUD, buprenorphine prescribing and diversion, continuity of care, and telehealth prescriptions.
In this document, Commonwealth agencies and boards including PA DOH, the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (PA DDAP), and the Pennsylvania (PA) State Board of Pharmacy answer a selection of prescribers’ and pharmacists’ most frequently asked questions.
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