On Dec. 29, 2022, with the signing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the Act), Congress eliminated the "DATA-Waiver Program."

DEA informed registrants that:

All DEA registrants should be aware of the following:

• A DATA-Waiver registration is no longer required to treat patients with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.
• Going forward, all prescriptions for buprenorphine only require a standard DEA registration number. The previously used DATA-Waiver registration numbers are no longer needed for any prescription.
• There are no longer any limits or patient caps on the number of patients a prescriber may treat for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine.
• The Act does not impact existing state laws or regulations that may be applicable.
• **Alabama Board of Medical Examiners rules do not conflict with the removal of the DATA-Waiver. Physicians are expected to comply with all federal laws surrounding the use of bupenorphine for the treatment of substance use disorder and all federal and state laws regarding the prescribing of controlled substances.**

Separately, the Act also introduced new training requirements for all prescribers. These requirements will not go into effect until June 21, 2023. The DEA and SAMHSA are actively working to provide further guidance and DEA will follow up with additional information on these requirements.