Conditions for the use of methadone; intent to propose revisions to regulations and request for comments.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are requesting comments on: (1) Whether to make the methadone regulations concerning narcotic addiction more flexible to accommodate more readily changes in medical practice while at the same time providing quality care and protecting against illicit diversion; and (2) whether to revise or eliminate the recordkeeping, reporting, and other requirements that may be unnecessary and/or overly burdensome as a result of changes in the state-of-the-art. The agencies will use information received in comments to determine appropriate changes to the methadone regulations. This action is the result of a retrospective review of the methadone regulations as required by law and by directive of the Office of Management and Budget.