Legislation increasing the number of patients with opioid addiction that group medical practices are allowed to treat was signed into law September 2 by President Bush.
Previously, the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 expanded access to treatment for opioid addiction beyond such traditional venues as large public clinics by allowing office-based dispensing and prescribing of Schedule III drugs, such as buprenorphine. But the legislation placed a limit of 30 patients per physician or 30 patients per group practice, in part to allay fears of people residing near such practices that drug-addiction clinics were springing up in the neighborhood. The new law maintains the 30 patient per physician limit while eliminating the 30 per group practice ceiling.
The change was supported by the American Psychiatric Association and the National Association of State Controlled Substances Authorities.
