North Carolina News: Item 2119 - DEA Numbers on Non-Controlled Prescriptions/Medicaid Audits

July 1, 2006 3:15 PM Topics: Prescriptions

Reprinted from the July 2006 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter.

Board staff has received several recent inquiries about the need for a prescriber’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number on a prescription for a non-controlled substance. NCGS §134.1 requires that written prescriptions for all legend drugs “must bear the printed or stamped name, address, telephone number, and DEA number of the prescriber in addition to his legal signature.”

Pharmacists should, of course, use their professional judgment when presented with an otherwise valid prescription for a non-controlled substance that lacks the prescriber’s DEA number. Often, the prescriber’s DEA number will already be found in the pharmacy’s computer system. And, in any event, pharmacists should not unduly obstruct a patient’s access to necessary prescription drugs on this basis.

Pharmacists should also be aware, however, that Medicaid auditors apparently are enforcing the requirement of DEA numbers on non-controlled prescriptions for purposes of payment. Medicaid auditors also are apparently refusing to pay for prescriptions on which a medical resident does not include their personal “suffix” to the health care facility’s DEA number on written prescriptions.