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Trump Executive Order Opens Door to Fix Methadone for OUD Regulation
Leading addiction medicine, think tank, and pharmacy organizations issue a letter urging the Trump Administration to fix burdensome regulation which currently bans qualified practitioners from prescribing methadone for OUD and pharmacies from filling the prescription.
While there are several treatments available for opioid use disorder (OUD), some Americans with OUD, particularly those using high-potency synthetic opioids like fentanyl, may need methadone treatment to achieve recovery. But for over 50 years, access to methadone for the treatment of OUD has been largely restricted to methadone clinics, which 80% of US counties do not have, creating a significant barrier for many patients.
This red tape barrier is the result of an outdated Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulation that prohibits qualified practitioners from prescribing methadone for OUD and pharmacies from filling such prescriptions.
But leading addiction medicine, think tank, and pharmacy organizations argue that this overly burdensome regulation is not based on the best reading of the underlying statute, and therefore, should be fixed. This would be in line with President Trump's Feb. 19 executive order, "Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' (DOGE) Deregulatory Initiative," which declares that regulations should be rescinded or modified if they are not based on the best reading of statutory authority.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), R Street Institute, National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Administrator of the DEA Derek S. Maltz outlining this argument:
"The current regulation’s ban on prescribing methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) not only misinterprets the plain language of the underlying statute but also creates an unnecessarily burdensome bureaucracy that harms Americans by restricting patient choices and limiting the autonomy of qualified practitioners in addiction medicine. Consequently, the current regulation prevents qualified practitioners from fighting the drug cartels - on the demand side - alongside you."