Federal officials said Friday that health care providers would be able to prescribe drugs for opioid addiction and ADHD over telehealth for another year, ending a months-long stalemate among policymakers.

During the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Agency issued temporary rules that allowed providers to prescribe controlled substances like buprenorphine and Adderall without first seeing a patient in person. Those rules were set to expire on Jan. 1 and have now been extended to the end of 2025. The extension kicks off the resolution of a year-long debate — one that has already drawn nearly 40,000 comments on previously proposed rules — to the second Trump administration and agency leadership which has not yet been determined.

The flexibility of the pandemic paved the way for a broader conversation about the strict rules that some argue are hampering access to potentially life-saving treatments. It also proved a boon for telehealth companies that emerged to provide care under the relaxed regime.

In 2023, the DEA released draft rules to reinstate restrictions criticized by telehealth advocates and providers, and last October extended the flexibility through the end of this year. The DEA fell short of a promise to issue final rules by the fall, which a former official attributed to interagency conflicts and politics. The most recent draft of the rules circulating included many restrictions, including requiring that half of a provider’s prescriptions for controlled substances be written for patients seen in person, and that providers screen their patients against prescription drug monitoring programs in all 50 states.

When these restrictions leaked, telehealth companies complained that they were unsustainable and would require a number of services to shut down. It has been apparent for months that the DEA would need to extend the pandemic rules because there was not enough time for the agency to issue final rules before the end of the year.

Many read the circulated rules as an indictment of companies that overwrite stimulants for profit; in June this year, leader of the ADHD-focused telehealth company Done were arrested on suspicion of participating in a scheme to distribute controlled substances online. By limiting the extension to just one year, the temporary rule states, it aims to “avoid stimulating the investment required to develop new telemedicine businesses that may encourage or enable problematic prescribing practices.”

Telehealth companies and advocates agreed on the need for oversight to prevent fraudulent and harmful prescribing that could lead to diversion, but many worried it would undo progress made in opioid addiction care. buprenorphine online prescription companies were particularly vocal advocates for continued protections for telehealth addiction care.

The temporary rule also cited the “urgent public health need for continued access to buprenorphine as an opioid use disorder medication” as justification for the extension. While buprenorphine access advocates are celebrating the extension, “it’s still a temporary measure, and therefore insufficient from our point of view,” said Stephanie Strong, CEO and founder of telehealth pharmaceutical company Boulder Care. “Telehealth isn’t just a novelty or a fix. It’s a necessity.”

The extension solves one of several telehealth insurances that expire at the end of the year. Congress is currently considering legislation that would extend for another two years rules that allow Medicare enrollees to receive a wide range of services over telehealth.