Cote Law PLLC

Active Prosecution Continues for Controlled Substance Violations

By Larry P. Cote

March 17, 2021

The COVID pandemic notwithstanding, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice and other federal and state agencies continue to actively pursue and prosecute pharmacies, pharmacists, doctors and others in the industry for violations of the Controlled Substance Act, False Claims Act and other controlled substance-related crimes. I’ve compiled news reports on such cases from the last two months, confirming that prosecuting health care fraud and illegal distribution of controlled substances continues to be top…

DEA Chronicles

Not So Fast: Biden Expected to Halt Expansion of Buprenorphine Prescribing

By Larry P. Cote

January 26, 2021

The Washington Post reports that the Biden Administration is preparing to pull back recent Health and Human Services (HHS) guidance designed to expand access to prescribing buprenorphine for opioid use disorders (OUD). On January 14, 2021, HHS published Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder. In a nutshell the guidelines eliminated certain X-waiver certification requirements, allowing any DEA-registered prescriber to issue buprenorphine prescriptions for medication-assisted treatment of OUDs. The…

DEA Chronicles

Confusion Persists with the 5% Rule

By Larry P. Cote

January 14, 2021

As I was reviewing the public comments regarding the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) providing a much-needed update to the agency’s suspicious order regulations, I noticed a similar issue raised by multiple commenters. Apart from the myriad of comments and requests seeking greater clarity from DEA on several definitions and provisions, there appears to remain a misunderstanding of using the 5% rule for distributions amongst practitioners.…

DEA Chronicles

DEA Proposes Regulations for Partial Fills of C-IIs

By Larry P. Cote

December 3, 2020

More than four years ago, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (“CARA”) was signed into law. CARA, among other things, includes provisions allowing for the partial filling of prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances. On December 4, 2020, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) implementing the partial fill provisions of CARA. While DEA does include additional provisions in the NPRM “to address certain regulatory requirements not addressed…

DEA Chronicles

DEA Creates Two-Option Framework for Reporting Suspicious Orders

By Larry P. Cote

October 30, 2020

Update: DEA has reopened the comment period for the proposed rulemaking from February 25, 2021, until March 29, 2021. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published its long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding suspicious orders of controlled substances. This will likely be the most heavily scrutinized rule issued by DEA this year. Registrants impacted by this rule should submit comments by March 29, 2021.…

DEA Chronicles

ASPL Virtual Conference: Your Rx for Developments in Pharmacy Law

By Larry P. Cote

October 28, 2020

Pharmacies and pharmacists have always been on the front lines in terms of medication safety and the pandemic has produced a new layer of challenges for the industry. I know we are all tired of Zoom meetings (and cheesy headlines), but this year’s American Society for Pharmacy Law Fall Meeting is the one conference you should attend if you want to stay on top of evolving pharmacy law regulations and industry trends.…

DEA Chronicles

NTIS Ending Its DEA Registration Subscription Service

By Larry P. Cote

October 25, 2020

Based on information posted on its website, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) will end its Controlled Substances Act (CSA) subscription service, effective November 17, 2020. As you may recall, the NTIS CSA subscription service provides near-real time information on all active and retired DEA registrations. This is/was a useful tool, particularly for distributors and pharmacies, to check the status of a DEA registration before controlled substances are distributed or dispensed. Many entities have…

DEA Chronicles

DEA Establishes Registration Category for EMS Agencies

By Larry P. Cote

October 4, 2020

On October 5, 2020, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) establishing a registration category for emergency medical services (EMS) agencies and the corresponding regulatory requirements for the new category of registrants. This regulatory action implements the ‘‘Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act of 2017 (the Act). The NPRM includes the following provisions mandated by the Act:…

DEA Chronicles

DEA’s New/Old View on Due Diligence Requirements

By Larry P. Cote

September 30, 2020

On September 30, 2020, DEA published a Final Rule (FR) adopting the Interim Final Rule (IFR) implementing the Ryan Haight Act. The FR made a few technical changes to the regulations and did not substantively change the IFR. What garnered my attention was DEA’s response to comments submitted after publication of the IFR.…

DEA Chronicles

DEA Proposes Significant Changes to Administrative Hearings

By Larry P. Cote

September 29, 2020

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), through a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), is seeking to make significant changes to its administrative hearing procedures. The proposed changes include the following, among others:…

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Active Prosecution Continues for Controlled Substance Violations

Not So Fast: Biden Expected to Halt Expansion of Buprenorphine Prescribing

Confusion Persists with the 5% Rule

DEA Proposes Regulations for Partial Fills of C-IIs

DEA Creates Two-Option Framework for Reporting Suspicious Orders

ASPL Virtual Conference: Your Rx for Developments in Pharmacy Law

NTIS Ending Its DEA Registration Subscription Service

DEA Establishes Registration Category for EMS Agencies

DEA’s New/Old View on Due Diligence Requirements

DEA Proposes Significant Changes to Administrative Hearings

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