April 1, 2020 4:14 pm Health Policy | Patient Management Prescribing Flexibility for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has issued new guidance giving DEA-registered physicians the ability to prescribe buprenorphine over the telephone for patients with opioid use disorder. This guidance will be in effect during the duration of the COVID-19 emergency. SHARE News & Knowledge All Curi recommendations are based on current CDC criteria at the time of publication. CDC guidance for SARS-CoV-2 infection may, or may not, be adopted by state and local health departments to respond to rapidly changing local circumstances. Providers should always check with their local health department to see if the CDC’s guidance on any given topic has been modified (particularly if more restrictive) from the CDC’s recommended guidelines. Follow this link https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/index.html for contact information to your state/local health department. If local recommendations vary from those of the CDC, and you are unsure what recommendations to follow, then it is safer to follow the more restrictive guidelines/recommendations.