SAMHSA Rule On Buprenorphine, Take Home Methadone Via Telehealth Has Limits

SAMHSA on Tuesday (Dec. 13) proposed to permanently allow practitioners in opioid treatment programs to initiate buprenorphine and to provide up to 28 days' worth of take-home methadone treatment following a telehealth evaluation, in the first instance solidifying a COVID-19-era telehealth waiver that virtual care lobbyists have been pushing the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to make permanent before the end of the public health emergency. However, the proposed rule is just one piece of a larger puzzle...