Summary
This Oklahoma Attorney General Opinion addresses inquiries from state legislators regarding the licensing and registration requirements for out-of-state medical practitioners treating Oklahoma residents outside of Oklahoma. It concludes that Oklahoma law does not mandate an out-of-state practitioner to obtain an Oklahoma professional license or register with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control when providing patient care and prescribing medications across state lines. The opinion emphasizes that the practice of medicine is determined by the patient's physical location at the time of the encounter.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Oklahoma law requires an out‑of‑state medical practitioner to obtain an Oklahoma professional license to provide care to Oklahoma residents in the practitioner’s home state.
- Whether Oklahoma law requires an out‑of‑state medical practitioner to obtain an Oklahoma license before prescribing a non‑controlled or controlled dangerous drug to an Oklahoma resident when the care occurs outside Oklahoma.
- Whether an out‑of‑state medical practitioner must obtain an OBNDD registration under the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act when the patient care occurs outside Oklahoma but a controlled‑drug prescription is sent to an Oklahoma pharmacy.
Holdings
- Oklahoma law does not require an out‑of‑state medical practitioner to possess an Oklahoma license to provide care to Oklahoma residents when the care is rendered outside Oklahoma.
- Oklahoma law does not require an out‑of‑state practitioner to be licensed in Oklahoma to prescribe controlled or non‑controlled drugs to an Oklahoma resident when the patient is outside Oklahoma at the time of the encounter.
- The UCDSA does not require an out‑of‑state practitioner to obtain an OBNDD registration under title 63, §2‑302 before sending a controlled‑drug prescription to an Oklahoma pharmacy.
Key quotations
“Oklahoma law does not require out‑of‑state medical practitioners to possess an Oklahoma license from an Oklahoma professional licensing board prior to seeing Oklahoma residents outside of Oklahoma.”
Factual background
Out‑of‑state medical practitioners occasionally provide care to Oklahoma residents who travel to neighboring states. The Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners asserted that such practitioners must be licensed in Oklahoma to prescribe controlled substances, and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (OBNDD) questioned whether a registration is required when prescriptions are sent to Oklahoma pharmacies.