< FOA Legal Corner

Certified Optometrists Do Not Need DEA Number On Prescriptions

Question: Can a pharmacy require that a prescription written by a Florida Certified Optometrist include a Federal Controlled Substance Registry Number (DEA Number) before it will be filled?

Answer: No. Florida Certified Optometrists are authorized to administer and prescribe only those topical ocular pharmaceutical agents listed on the TOPA Formulary published by the Florida Board of Optometry. Individual Prescriber Numbers are issued to each Certified Optometrist by the Florida Board of Optometry to facilitate the prescription process. Florida Certified Optometrists are not authorized under Florida law to prescribe controlled substances. Because Florida Certified Optometrists are not authorized under Florida law to administer or prescribe controlled substances, none of the pharmaceutical agents listed on the TOPA Formulary are controlled substances. As a result, Florida Certified Optometrists ARE NOT REQUIRED to have a Federal Controlled Substance Registry Number (DEA Number) to administer or prescribe any of the pharmaceutical agents on the TOPA Formulary.

In recent years, many health insurance companies have made the submission of a prescriber's DEA Number a prerequisite for reimbursement of prescription costs regardless of whether the prescription was for a controlled substance. In some instances, the DEA Number has become a "DE FACTO" prescriber number. As a consequence, some pharmacies in Florida have refused to fill prescriptions for pharmaceutical agents on the TOPA Formulary written by Certified Optometrists because the prescription did not include a DEA Number for the Certified Optometrist. This practice by various pharmacies is unauthorized and is strongly opposed by the DEA. The DEA considers this practice to be a misuse of DEA Numbers and the DEA has issued several written advisories to the health care industry requesting discontinuance of this practice. DEA has also requested that individual prescribers refuse to comply with requests from pharmacies to provide a DEA Number for prescriptions written for non-controlled substances.

It is anticipated that the recent implementation of the National Identification Number System will correct this misuse of DEA Numbers.