Can physicians and other authorized hospital staff administer buprenorphine to a patient who is addicted to opioids but who is admitted to a hospital for a condition other than opioid addiction?
Neither the Controlled Substances Act (as amended by the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000) nor DEA implementing regulations (21 CFR 1306.07(c)) impose any limitations on a physician or other authorized hospital staff to maintain or detoxify a person with an opioid treatment drug like buprenorphine as an incidental adjunct to medical or surgical conditions other than opioid addiction. Thus, a patient with opioid addiction who is admitted to a hospital for a primary medical problem other than opioid addiction, e.g., myocardial infarction, may be administered opioid agonist medications (e.g., methadone, buprenorphine) to prevent opioid withdrawal that would complicate the primary medical problem. A DATA 2000 waiver is not required for practitioners in order to administer or dispense buprenorphine (or methadone) in this circumstance. It is good practice for the admitting physician to consult with the patient’s addiction treatment provider, when possible, to obtain treatment history.
Related Questions
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