Bipartisan bill would let doctors prescribe methadone for pharmacy pickup
Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have reintroduced legislation to expand access to methadone, a long-established treatment for opioid addiction. The bill would let physicians board-certified in addiction medicine prescribe the drug directly to patients for pickup at a pharmacy, bypassing the requirement that patients obtain it through one of roughly 2,000 federally regulated opioid treatment programs — clinics that often require daily in-person visits.
Markey first introduced the measure in 2023, and a Senate committee approved it on a bipartisan basis that December, but it never received a full Senate vote and stalled in the House. Supporters, including the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the Drug Policy Alliance, argue the clinic-only model limits access, particularly in rural areas. The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence opposes the change through a “Program, Not a Pill” campaign, contending clinics provide counseling and oversight that a prescription alone does not; private equity-backed clinic operators have also resisted.
The bill’s path is uncertain. Beyond the entrenched clinic-versus-pharmacy debate, the Trump administration signaled skepticism toward addiction medications earlier this year, which complicates prospects for a measure that depends on regulators loosening how a tightly controlled drug is dispensed.