What is the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act for Telemedicine?
In October 2008, the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act (38) was signed into law, amending the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by defining legally permissible activities for physicians prescribing controlled substances over the Internet. The above provisions in the CSA were amended as follows: • A valid prescription for controlled substances dispensed by means of the internet by a practitioner for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice [requires] at least one in-person medical evaluation of the patient. • An exception to the requirement for an in-person medical evaluation was made for practitioners who are engaged in the practice of telemedicine. • The Act provides a temporary definition of the “practice of telemedicine,” pending issuance of separate regulations no later than January 15, 2010. • It is unlawful to “fill a prescription for a controlled substance based solely on a consumer’s completion of an online medical questionnaire.
