Legislators Ask Biden to Let More Doctors Prescribe Buprenorphine

A bipartisan group of legislators is asking President Biden to allow more doctors to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction, The Washington Post reports.

Last month, the Biden administration indicated that it intended to stop a plan by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow more doctors to prescribe buprenorphine. The HHS plan had been formulated during the Trump administration.

The plan would have allowed doctors more flexibility in prescribing buprenorphine by eliminating the requirement that doctors obtain a special federal waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. Doctors are currently required to take an eight-hour course to receive the waiver.

The legislators, led by Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have reintroduced the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act, which would eliminate the waiver. “This burdensome requirement does not improve patient safety, but does lead to treatment bottlenecks and a lack of providers across the country, particularly in rural areas,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden.