Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD)

Rules on the provision of unsupervised (or take-home) doses of methadone are finalized, as per the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), to incorporate flexibilities issued in response to the COVID‑19 pandemic.

In general, the final criteria allow:

• Up to 7 days of take-home doses during the first 14 days of treatment
• Up to 14 take-home doses from 15 days of treatment
• Up to 28 take-home doses from 31 days in treatment

The requirement that opioid treatment programs (OTP) maintain procedures to protect take-homes from theft and diversion is finalized, as well as patient education on safe transport and storage of take-home doses, including documentation of the provision of this education in the patient's clinical record.

The final rule can be found at the following link:

federalregister.gov/documents/2024/02/02/2024-01693/medications-for-the-treatment-of-opioid-use-disorder

This final rule modifies and updates certain provisions of regulations related OTP accreditation, certification, and standards for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) with MOUD in OTPs. This includes making flexibilities put forth during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) permanent, as well as expanding access to care and evidence-based treatment for OUD. The final rule also removes all language and rules pertaining to the Drug Addiction and Treatment Act Waiver from the regulations pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.