The Texas Medical Board (TMB) has extended a waiver that allows for refills of prescriptions for chronic pain patients who recently saw their doctor via telemedicine.
The waiver, which has been extended until March 2, was part of an emergency rule the board put in place on Nov. 3, 2020, in response to the state’s continuing COVID-19 disaster declaration.
The rule continues allowing telephone refills of prescriptions of scheduled drugs for a physician’s established chronic pain patients “as long as the patient has been seen by the prescribing physician or health professional … in the last 90 days either in-person or via telemedicine using audio and video two-way communication,” TMB said in a release. The rule had been set to expire Jan. 3.
TMB rules normally prohibit treatment of chronic pain with scheduled drugs via telemedicine visits, “unless otherwise allowed under federal and state law.”
More information on the board’s pandemic-related activity is available on its COVID-19 response page.
Last Updated On
January 08, 2021
Originally Published On
November 09, 2020
Joey Berlin
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1393