Bill > HB2136

This bill streamlines the process for scheduling medications that have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is the federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs. Specifically, it establishes that if a substance approved by the FDA is designated or scheduled under federal law and no objection is raised within Tennessee, it will automatically be placed in the same controlled substance schedule as it is under federal law after a 30-day period from the federal publication, without needing to wait for Tennessee's annual revision of its controlled substance schedules. Furthermore, licensed healthcare prescribers in Tennessee can immediately prescribe such a drug product upon its federal scheduling, provided it's approved by the FDA, not in Schedule I (the most restrictive category), within their scope of practice, and not otherwise prohibited by law. This aims to ensure that Tennessee's controlled substance schedules are more quickly aligned with federal designations for newly approved medications.