Based on U.S. legislation passed in 2000, known as DATA (the Drug Addiction Treatment Act), any licensed provider (physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner) with a DEA registration who has received extra training and obtained a special waiver (known as an “x” license) from the DEA can prescribe Suboxone.
This means that Suboxone can be prescribed in an outpatient clinic, such as a primary care clinic or an outpatient psychiatrists’ office by any provider who has obtained their Suboxone license. Patients do NOT have to attend addiction specialty clinics (like a methadone clinic) to get Suboxone. This means it is often easier--more convenient and less stigmatizing-- for patients to access treatment for opioid dependence and addiction.
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Randi Sokol, MD, MPH, MMedEd, is an Assistant Professor at the Tufts Family Medicine Residency Program and Instructor at Harvard Medical School. She is Board Certified in both Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She earned her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania, her Medical Degree and Masters in Public Health from Tulane University, completed Family Medicine Residency at UC-Davis, and earned a Masters in Medical Education through the University of Dundee.
