North Carolina News: Item 2155 - DEA Adopts Rule Allowing Multiple Prescriptions for Schedule II Controlled Substances

January 1, 2008 12:52 PM Topics: Controlled substances

Reprinted from the January 2008 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published in the Federal Register on November 19, 2007, a final rule titled “Issuance of Multiple Prescriptions for Schedule II Controlled Substances.” The rule became effective December 19, 2007. Under it, practitioners may provide a patient with multiple prescriptions for a specific Schedule II controlled substance (CS), written on the same date, to be filled sequentially, up to a total 90-day supply.
 

Pharmacists occasionally ask Board staff whether any North Carolina law or regulation limits the days supply of a Schedule II CS that a practitioner may prescribe for a patient. The answer is no. Of course, pharmacists must use sound professional judgment when reviewing all controlled prescriptions to ensure that the prescription is written for a legitimate medical purpose in the ordinary course of practice.
 

Occasionally, a pharmacist will state to a patient that “the law” prevents the pharmacist from dispensing more than a 30-day supply of a Schedule II CS as an explanation for why the patient’s insurance company will not pay for more than a 30-day supply. This is not correct. Some insurers may refuse to pay for more than a 30-day supply, but that action is a consequence of the particular insurance contract, not a consequence of any North Carolina statute or regulation.