WASHINGTON — The Drug Enforcement Administration is reversing a regulation that had been expected to create shortages of morphine and other opioid injectables, according to a DEA letter to drugmakers obtained by STAT.
The DEA dictates the quantity of controlled substances that drug companies are allowed to make. Until this year, those quotas were set annually for Schedule II drugs, such as morphine and other injectable opioids that hospitals regularly use.
In December, the DEA announced that it would use quarterly quotas instead. The goal was to prevent shortages. Some drug manufacturers were not using the full amount of yearly quotas, which the agency said resulted in shortages of those medications. The move to quarterly quotas was meant to stop drug companies from hoarding their quotas.
