Total Health Law Blog
As a healthcare and business law firm, many of our clients come to us with questions relating to the proper ordering and management of controlled substances. As such, we wanted to take this opportunity to point out a recent update to the DEA’s Practitioner’s Manual.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released an updated Practitioner’s Manual on June 14, 2023. This is the first updated version of the manual since 2006. The Practitioner’s Manual provides guidance for all DEA registrants handling controlled substances—including behavioral health centers and physicians—on compliance with the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and DEA regulations. The Practitioner’s Manual can be found here.
Some of the most significant updates include the following:
Registration Requirements
Generally, every practitioner who dispenses, which includes by definition administering and prescribing, controlled substances in schedules II through V, must be registered with DEA. To register or reregister as a practitioner, a DEA Form 224 or Form 224a, respectively, must be completed. The manual includes clarifying information about how practitioners can order, use, fill out, copy, store, cancel, and return the DEA Form 222 used to order, distribute and transfer Schedule I and II controlled substances. The manual also incorporates the optional Controlled Substance Ordering System (CSOS) as a viable alternative to the paper Form 222. Continue reading ›
Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers and other allied health professionals who are beginning their journeys of opening a Medical Spa. Medical Spa’s have been 
Our healthcare and business law firm works with many physicians in Georgia who are facing mental health and substance abuse difficulties. Sometimes those difficulties bleed into work and can cause work and/or licensure issues. Georgia offers an incredible resource dedicated to physician recovery in a way that protects Georgia citizens and minimizes career concerns for the physician—the Georgia Professional Health Program (“PHP”). This post provides 3 Facts about the Georgia PHP. If you are experiencing or are concerned about ramifications of a potential addiction or mental health disorder, in addition to seeking medical help, we recommend contacting an experienced attorney who can assist you through this difficult process and help minimize potential licensure and career impacts. If you have questions regarding this blog post or would like to speak with counsel regarding 
As a healthcare and business law firm, we have many clients who participate in or wish to participate in pain management clinics. A previous blog post of ours provided an 
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Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers and other allied health professionals who are beginning their journeys of opening a Medical Spa. They have been 
Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers and other allied health professionals who are beginning their journeys of opening a Medical Spa. Medical Spas have been 
Our healthcare and business law firm often assists physicians and other providers in obtaining and maintaining licensure. Sometimes, physicians desire assistance to ensure a smooth process without having any occurrences to disclose. The majority of the time, however, when we are hired to assist in licensure matters, the physician has a past or ongoing event that they need assistance with. We usually begin by evaluating whether the occurrence must be, should be, or need not be disclosed. One important question that is always present and concerning to many is the mental health question, which is also the first question on the Applicant Questionnaire section of the license application in Georgia. There have been different iterations of this question over the years, and earlier this year, the Medical Board modified the questions once again. This post explains the progression of this question in Georgia. If you need 
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