In a ruling certain to make psychiatrists and their patients happy, the DEA has finally said that doctors may give patients 90 days worth of prescriptions for schedule II controlled substances, which includes stimulants and narcotics. Before this ruling, we were formally required to have all our ADHD patients come for monthly visits in order to get their stimulant prescriptions. Of course, few of us actually did this, and post-dating scripts has become standard practice for stable patients who have continued on the same dose of the same medication for the long term. With this ruling, issued on December 19, 2007, we are finally no longer breaking the law. See http://www.deadiversion.usdoj. gov/fed_regs/rules/2007/fr1119.htm

TCPR’s Take: Check with your state’s board of pharmacy website (see the following site for a comprehensive listing of all board of pharmacy websites: http://www.edhayes. com/sbp-main.html). Not all states have to agree with this federal ruling, and in states where the controlled substance laws are more restrictive, you may not be able to take advantage of the DEA’s new policy.