Maine Laws

Requirements for Licensure and Operations of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

Question:

Which medications for opioid use disorder are physician assistants authorized to prescribe?

Answer:
  • Buprenorphine
  • Methadone
  • Naltrexone
This answer is derived from 1 section of law
Citation:
  • citation 1: see full citation
    (2) Prescribing, administering, and dispensing of all medical devices and legend drugs, including all drugs in Schedules II-V, as defined in the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801, et seq., to the extent permitted by state and federal law and in accordance with the following:(a) If authorized and delegated by the primary supervising physician, the delegation of the authority to prescribe, administer, or dispense scheduled drugs must be specifically included in the written plan of supervision and must identify which scheduled drugs (e.g. schedule II, schedule III, etc.) the physician assistant is authorized to prescribe, administer or dispense.(b) The primary supervising physician shall perform a review of the physician assistant's scheduled drug prescribing practices every three months during the first year of the physician assistant's delegation of scheduled drug prescribing authority in the plan of supervision. Thereafter, the primary supervising physician shall conduct such a review every six months. All reviews shall include a review of patient charts and a review of the Prescription Monitoring Program reports. The primary supervising physician shall take corrective action regarding any deficiencies noted regarding the physician assistant's scheduled drug prescribing practices.(c) Physician assistants may not prescribe Methadone, Suboxone (Buprenorphine), or Subutex unless allowed under state and federal laws. If permitted under state and federal laws, and if delegated by the primary supervising physician, the authority to prescribe Methadone, Suboxone (Buprenorphine), or Subutex must be specifically included in the written plan of supervision.(d) Physicians are ultimately responsible for the prescribing practices of the physician assistants working under their delegation, and should closely monitor the prescribing of all scheduled drugs and controlled substances. Inappropriate prescribing practices by a physician assistant shall constitute grounds to discipline the physician assistant and supervising physicians(s). see full law