Washington Post | By Dan Diamond and Lenny Bernstein

The Biden administration is preparing to halt a last-minute plan by the Trump administration to let more physicians prescribe an opioid-treatment drug, said three officials with knowledge of the pending announcement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan.

The Trump plan had been hailed by physicians as loosening requirements they said had slowed their response to the nation’s worsening opioid crisis. Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden also criticized the prescribing rules and vowed to lift them if elected president. But some legal experts warned that the Department of Health and Human Services lacked the authority to issue guidelines that allowed physicians to avoid requirements mandated by Congress.

“Unfortunately, the Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder announced by the Trump administration in its last days had significant legal and clinical concerns,” according to a draft announcement obtained by The Washington Post. “The Biden Administration will not issue the Guidelines previously announced.

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