Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed HB 5678 into law on April 2 with immediate effect, delaying implementation of last year’s legislation that stated, beginning March 31, 2018, a prescriber must not prescribe a Schedule II through V controlled substance unless the prescriber is in a bona fide prescriber-patient relationship with the patient. Under this law, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is required to promulgate rules defining what constitutes a “bona fide prescriber-patient relationship.” Per HB 5678, the implementation date is now Sunday, March 31, 2019. However, if rules are promulgated by DHHS before that date, the effective date will be the date in which the rules are finalized.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.