If I'm an Oklahoma resident and see a doctor in Texas or Arkansas, can that doctor send my prescription to my Oklahoma pharmacy without an Oklahoma license?
Plain-English summary
Most Oklahoma border counties are federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas. Residents in those counties routinely cross state lines for medical care, to Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, or Texas, and have their prescriptions sent home to Oklahoma pharmacies for filling. This has been the norm for decades.
In 2024, the Executive Director of the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners (OSBOE) interpreted Oklahoma law to require out-of-state DOs to hold an Oklahoma license before they could prescribe controlled substances to Oklahoma residents, even when the encounter occurred in the DO's home state. At least one Missouri provider stopped sending all prescriptions to Oklahoma pharmacies as a result. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs Control (OBNDD) disagreed with OSBOE.
Three legislators (Reps. Bashore and Maynard, Sen. Bullard) asked the AG to resolve the conflict. AG Drummond rejected OSBOE's reading and answered three questions:
- Oklahoma license to treat? No. Section 493.7 of title 59 says the practice of healthcare occurs where the patient is located at the time of the encounter. If the patient travels to the practitioner's home state and is seen there, the practitioner only needs the home-state license.
- Oklahoma license to prescribe? No. Prescribing is part of the practice of healthcare, which (per § 493.7) happens at the location of the encounter: outside Oklahoma.
- OBNDD registration to send a controlled-substance prescription to an Oklahoma pharmacy? No. Section 2-302 of title 63 requires OBNDD registration only for in-state prescribers and for out-of-state pharmaceutical suppliers and wholesale distributors. Out-of-state prescribers are not on the list. Under expressio unius, that omission is intentional.
The opinion preserves the long-standing norm: an Oklahoma resident who sees a doctor in another state can have a controlled-substance prescription sent home to their Oklahoma pharmacy without complications.
What this means for you
If you are an Oklahoma resident in a border county
Your existing relationship with an out-of-state practitioner is safe. You can continue to travel for treatment, and your prescriptions can be sent to your Oklahoma pharmacy. This applies to controlled substances (Schedule II–V, electronically prescribed) and non-controlled drugs.
If you are an out-of-state physician, DO, PA, APRN, dentist, optometrist, or veterinarian
You do not need an Oklahoma license to see Oklahoma residents who travel to your office in your home state. You do not need OBNDD registration to send their prescriptions, including controlled substances, to an Oklahoma pharmacy. You do need to comply with your home-state licensing rules, federal DEA registration, federal electronic-prescribing rules under 21 U.S.C. § 802(54), and the Oklahoma electronic-prescribing requirement for Schedules II–V (63 O.S. § 2-309).
If you are providing telehealth services to a patient located in Oklahoma at the time of the visit, you do need an Oklahoma license under 59 O.S. § 493.7. The opinion is specific to in-person encounters in the practitioner's home state.
If you are an Oklahoma pharmacist
Continue to fill prescriptions from out-of-state practitioners as you have for decades. The OBNDD has long recognized this as accepted practice. The AG opinion confirms the legal basis. If you have specific concerns about authentication of an out-of-state prescription, follow your existing PMP and verification protocols.
The AG noted that the Pharmacy Act is silent on this issue (other than for APRNs and PAs) and "encourage[d] the Legislature to examine the Oklahoma laws regarding prescribing and dispensing authority." Until the legislature acts, the practice is lawful under the AG's reading.
If you serve on the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners
The AG opinion is binding on state officials under 74 O.S. § 18b. The OSBOE position that out-of-state DOs need Oklahoma licensure to prescribe to Oklahoma residents is overruled.
If you are an Oklahoma legislator
The AG flagged the underlying statutory ambiguity and invited legislative clarification. If the legislature wants to formalize the existing practice (or change it), this opinion is the starting point.
Common questions
Q: I'm an Oklahoman who sees an Arkansas doctor for chronic pain management. Can my pain medication be sent to my Oklahoma pharmacy?
A: Yes. The Arkansas doctor does not need an Oklahoma license or OBNDD registration to send your prescription to Oklahoma.
Q: What about telehealth visits where I'm at home in Oklahoma?
A: Different rule. If you are physically in Oklahoma at the time of the encounter, the provider needs Oklahoma licensure. The opinion is specific to in-person visits in the provider's home state.
Q: Can the out-of-state doctor prescribe Adderall (Schedule II)?
A: Yes, if the doctor has DEA Schedule II authority and follows the federal electronic-prescribing rules. No Oklahoma license or OBNDD registration is required.
Q: My pharmacy is refusing to fill an out-of-state prescription. What do I do?
A: Pharmacists have professional discretion. Show them this AG opinion and the OBNDD's December 2024 statement, both of which confirm that out-of-state prescriptions are valid. If your pharmacy continues to refuse, try another pharmacy.
Q: What if my doctor is licensed in another state but doesn't have a DEA number?
A: Federal law (21 U.S.C. § 822) requires DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances anywhere. That's separate from Oklahoma licensing.
Q: Can a PA or APRN from another state send a controlled-substance prescription to Oklahoma?
A: The opinion focuses on physicians but applies to all "medical practitioners" as defined in the controlled-substances act. The Pharmacy Act has specific provisions for APRNs and PAs (59 O.S. § 353.1a) that may add additional rules; consult the home-state scope of practice and the Oklahoma rules separately.
Background and statutory framework
Oklahoma regulates the practice of medicine through state professional licensing boards (Medical Board, Osteopathic Examiners, Pharmacy Board, etc.). Section 493.7 of title 59 was added to clarify that the practice of healthcare occurs where the patient is located. That makes Oklahoma jurisdiction patient-side: if the patient is in Oklahoma when receiving care, Oklahoma rules apply. If the patient is in another state, that state's rules apply.
The Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act (UCDSA, 63 O.S. §§ 2-101 et seq.) requires OBNDD registration for "every person" who prescribes a controlled substance "within or into" Oklahoma. Read literally, this could include out-of-state prescribers. But § 2-302(B) explicitly extends registration to out-of-state pharmaceutical suppliers and wholesale distributors only. Under expressio unius est exclusio alterius (mention of one excludes others), the legislature's silence on out-of-state prescribers is intentional.
Federal DEA registration (under 21 U.S.C. § 822) is separate and is required everywhere. Federal electronic-prescribing rules (21 U.S.C. § 802(54)) cover the technical requirements.
The AG also relied on the "long-standing administrative construction" canon: where an agency has interpreted a statute the same way for decades and the legislature has not disturbed that interpretation, courts treat the legislative silence as acquiescence (per Peterson v. OTC; Draper v. State).
Citations and references
Statutes:
- 59 O.S. § 493.7, Where practice of healthcare occurs
- 63 O.S. § 2-302, OBNDD registration
- 63 O.S. § 2-309, Electronic prescribing requirement
- 63 O.S. § 2-312, Practitioner authority for controlled substances
- 21 U.S.C. § 802(54): Federal telehealth definition
Cases:
- Patterson v. Beall, 2000 OK 92, 19 P.3d 839, expressio unius canon
- Brassfield v. State, 2024 OK 9, 544 P.3d 938, dictionary-based statutory construction
- Peterson v. OTC, 1964 OK 78, 395 P.2d 388, long-standing administrative interpretation
Source
- Landing page: https://oklahoma.gov/oag/opinions/ag-opinions/2025/ag-opinion-2025-02.html
- Original PDF: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oag/opinions/ag-opinions/2025/AGO24-32 2025 OK AG 2.pdf
Original opinion text
GENTNER DRUMMOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION
2025-2
Representative Steve Bashore
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 7
State Capitol Building
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 248
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
February 6, 2025
Representative Cody Maynard
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 21
State Capitol Building
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 341.2
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Senator David Bullard
Oklahoma Senate, District 6
State Capitol Building
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 443
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Dear Representatives Bashore and Maynard and Senator Bullard:
This office has received your requests for an Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect,
the following questions:
1. Does Oklahoma law require an out-of-state medical practitioner to obtain a
license from an Oklahoma professional licensing board in order to provide
care in the practitioner’s home state to Oklahoma residents who are
temporarily in the practitioner’s home state?
2. Does Oklahoma law require an out-of-state medical practitioner to obtain a
license from an Oklahoma professional licensing board to issue a prescription
for a non-controlled or controlled dangerous drug when the patient care and
prescribing occur outside of Oklahoma?
The Honorable Steve Bashore, Cody Maynard, and David Bullard
Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate
A.G. Opinion
Page 2
- Does Oklahoma law require an out-of-state medical practitioner, who is not
licensed by an Oklahoma professional licensing board, to obtain a registration
from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control
(“OBNDD”) when the patient care occurs outside of Oklahoma but a
prescription for a controlled drug is sent to an Oklahoma pharmacy?
I.
SUMMARY
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. Further, an out-of-state medical practitioner is not required to have an Oklahoma
license before prescribing a controlled or non-controlled drug to an Oklahoma resident when the
patient care occurs outside of Oklahoma. Finally, the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances
Act (“UCDSA”), 63 O.S.2021, §§ 2-101–2-309 & 2-401–2-413.1, does not require an out-of-state
licensed practitioner who provides patient care outside of Oklahoma to register with OBNDD
before sending a prescription for a controlled drug to an Oklahoma pharmacy.
II.
BACKGROUND
The above questions originate from a recent interpretation of Oklahoma law by the Executive
Director of the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners (“OSBOE”). The OSBOE asserts
that an out-of-state medical practitioner cannot prescribe controlled substances to an Oklahoma
resident if the medical practitioner does not possess an Oklahoma license to practice despite the
practitioner-patient encounter occurring outside Oklahoma. 1 Given that an overwhelming majority
of Oklahoma’s border counties qualify as a “Health Professional Shortage Area,” Oklahomans
living in border counties commonly travel to Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, or Texas to
receive medical care and treatment. 2 Accordingly, the OSBOE interpretation of Oklahoma law can
potentially disrupt established practitioner-patient relationships and cause medical hardship to
Oklahoma residents. This interpretation disrupted a long-standing norm under which out-of-state
medical practitioners seeing Oklahoma residents in the practitioner’s state of licensure send the
patients’ prescriptions to Oklahoma pharmacies. In response to OSBOE’s interpretation, the
OBNDD stated that it did not interpret the UCDSA to require an out-of-state practitioner to possess
an OBNDD-issued registration because “[p]rescribing and dispensing are separate acts . . . .” 3
As a result, this office knows at least one health care provider in Missouri that ceased sending all
prescriptions to Oklahoma pharmacies for Oklahoma residents receiving health care services from a Missouri medical
practitioner unless the practitioner possesses an Oklahoma license.
1
Oklahoma State Department of Health, Primary Care of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)
https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/health/health2/aem-documents/organization/center-for-health(2022),
innovation-and-effectiveness/data-and-reports/Primary-Care-HPSA-Scores.pdf (last visited Feb. 6, 2025).
2
Director Donnie Anderson, Statement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control Relating to Oklahoma Pharmacies Filling Prescriptions Written by Out-of-State Practitioners (2024),
https://www.obndd.ok.gov/Home/Components/News/News/138/16 (last visited Feb. 6, 2025).
3
The Honorable Steve Bashore, Cody Maynard, and David Bullard
Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate
A.G. Opinion
Page 3
Thus, under OBNDD’s interpretation, an out-of-state practitioner is not prescribing into this state
merely by transmitting or sending a prescription to an Oklahoma pharmacy.
III.
DISCUSSION
A.
Standard of Review
“The goal of any inquiry into the meaning of a statutory enactment is to ascertain and give effect
to the intent of the legislature.” Yocum v. Greenbriar Nursing Home, 2005 OK 27, ¶ 9, 130 P.3d
213, 219. The Legislature is presumed to have expressed its intent through the statutory text. Id.
In other words, a plain and unambiguous statute receives the effect its language dictates. Id.
(footnotes omitted). If the statute is ambiguous, then rules of statutory construction apply. YDF,
Inc. v. Schlumar, Inc., 2006 OK 32, ¶ 6, 136 P.3d 656, 658. “The test for ambiguity . . . is whether
the statutory language is susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation.” In re
J.L.M., 2005 OK 15, ¶ 5, 109 P.3d 336, 338 (citation omitted). Ascertaining legislative intent
requires both examining the statutory context and the statute’s provisions in light of the entire act’s
purpose and objective. McIntosh v. Watkins, 2019 OK 6, ¶ 4, 441 P.3d 1094, 1096. “Any doubt . .
. [is] resolved by . . . [looking] to other statutes relating to the same subject matter.” Id.
Consideration is also given “to the various provisions of the relevant legislative scheme . . . and
the public policy underlying that intent.” YDF, 2006 OK 32, ¶ 6, 136 P.3d at 658 (quoting World
Publishing Co. v. Miller, 2001 OK 49, ¶ 79, 32 P.3d 829, 832). Additionally, statutes must be
interpreted to give a “reasonable construction, one . . . [which] will avoid absurd consequences if
this can be done without violating legislative intent.” McIntosh, ¶ 4, 441 P.3d at
1096. Furthermore, Oklahoma courts afford great weight to an administrative interpretation of a
statute if the agency is charged with executing the statute at issue and particularly where the
Legislature has convened numerous times without disturbing the administrative construction.
Peterson v. Oklahoma Tax Comm’n, 1964 OK 78, ¶ 16, 395 P.2d 388, 391. Instead, a reviewing
court regards legislative silence as acquiescence or approval of the administrative interpretation.
Id. This office must do the same and act accordingly in reviewing the statutes at issue here when
acting in a quasi-judicial capacity. See 2006 OK AG 35, ¶ 23 (citing State ex rel. York v. Turpen,
1984 OK 26, ¶ 11, 681 P.2d 763, 767; Draper v. State, 1980 OK 117, ¶ 14, 621 P.2d 1142, 1147).
B.
An out-of-state medical practitioner does not need an Oklahoma license to provide
care to Oklahoma residents in the practitioner’s home state.
Through established professional licensing boards, Oklahoma law regulates the practice of health
care for doctors practicing allopathic medicine (MDs), doctors practicing osteopathic medicine
(“DOs”), doctors practicing podiatric medicine (podiatrists), physician assistants (PAs), Advanced
Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), doctors practicing dentistry (dentists), doctors practicing
optometry (optometrists), and doctors practicing veterinary medicine (veterinarians). 4 The
These professionals will collectively be referred to as “medical practitioners” or “practitioners”
throughout this opinion. See also generally 59 O.S.Supp.2022, § 353.1(22); 63 O.S.Supp.2024, § 2-101(42).
4
The Honorable Steve Bashore, Cody Maynard, and David Bullard
Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate
A.G. Opinion
Page 4
regulations function to require an Oklahoma professional licensing board to license these
practitioners prior to practicing health care in this state.
Under Oklahoma law, the practice of health care generally “occurs where the patient is located at
the time of the . . . [practitioner-patient] encounter, and therefore requires the . . . [practitioner] to
be under the jurisdiction of the state . . . [licensing] board where the patient is located.” 59
O.S.2021, § 493.7. Therefore, the attending practitioner must have an Oklahoma license to render
patient care lawfully if the patient is in Oklahoma when receiving health care. 5 Put another way,
an out-of-state practitioner does not need an Oklahoma license to lawfully render patient care to
an Oklahoma resident who is in another state where the practitioner is otherwise licensed.
C.
An out-of-state practitioner is not required under Oklahoma law to obtain a license
from an Oklahoma professional licensing board before prescribing a controlled or
non-controlled drug to an Oklahoma resident being seen outside of Oklahoma.
You separately ask whether Oklahoma law requires an out-of-state practitioner to obtain a license
from an Oklahoma professional licensing board before prescribing non-controlled or controlled
dangerous drugs to an Oklahoma resident being seen outside of Oklahoma. As discussed above,
the practice of medicine takes place outside of Oklahoma when the practitioner-patient encounter
occurs outside this state. The act of prescribing is included within Oklahoma’s definitions of the
practice of health care. See 59 O.S.2021, § 492(A); 59 O.S.2021, § 142(B); 59 O.S.2021,
§ 519.2(3); 59 O.S.2021, § 567.3a(2 & 5); 59 O.S.Supp.2022, § 328.19(A); 59 O.S.2021,
§ 581(B); 59 O.S.2021, § 698.11(A). Consequently, Oklahoma law does not require out-of-state
practitioners to be licensed in Oklahoma to provide health care, including prescribing, when the
patient is outside of Oklahoma at the time of the practitioner-patient encounter. 6
5
It logically follows that a medical practitioner must have an Oklahoma license to provide healthcare services
via telehealth communications (i.e., telehealth) to Oklahoma residents who are in Oklahoma when receiving services.
See 59 O.S.Supp.2023, § 478.1(A); 59 O.S.Supp.2021, § 328.54(A); see also 21 U.S.C. § 802(54) (2018).
Though you do not directly inquire, your question implicates whether a pharmacist licensed by the
Oklahoma Pharmacy Board may fill a prescription written or issued by a practitioner licensed in another state but not
in Oklahoma. As thorough as the Oklahoma Pharmacy Act (“Pharmacy Act”), 59 O.S.2021, §§ 353–355.4, may be,
none of its more than fifty definitions or more than thirty statutory sections directly address this issue except insofar
as it relates to APRNs and PAs. However, outside of the instances in title 59, section 353.1a relating to APRNs and
PAs, the Pharmacy Act is noticeably silent regarding whether an Oklahoma licensed pharmacist may dispense a
controlled or non-controlled drug based on a prescription from practitioners (other than APRNs and PAs) licensed and
otherwise authorized to practice in another state. But see 63 O.S.Supp.2022, § 2-312 (authorizing an APRN and a PA
to prescribe limited controlled dangerous substances). The OBNDD states that “[f]or decades, it has been the accepted
and well-known practice for Oklahoma pharmacies to recognize the legitimacy of prescriptions written by
practitioners licensed in other states.” See supra footnote 3. The OBNDD is an agency established by statute within
the UCDSA and its Director has authority to determine if a practitioner is prescribing to a person engaging in unlawful
efforts to fill or refill a prescription. King v. State, 2008 OK CR 13, ¶ 5, 182 P.3d 842, 843; 63 O.S.2021, § 2-301; 63
O.S.2021, § 2-106; but see OKLA. ADMIN. CODE § 535:15-3-11(a) (prohibiting the filling or refilling of a prescription
unless it is from an authorized prescriber, defined under title 59, section 353.1(40) as a person licensed in this state
and authorized to prescribe dangerous drugs within the scope of their practice); and 59 O.S.Supp.2022, § 353.1.
6
This office encourages the Legislature to examine the Oklahoma laws regarding prescribing and dispensing
authority and provide unambiguous direction regarding whether an Oklahoma-licensed pharmacist may dispense a
prescription from an out-of-state practitioner. Authorizing these practices is a matter of legislative discretion and this
office is available to discuss the historical and current statutory framework and legal ramifications relating to it,
The Honorable Steve Bashore, Cody Maynard, and David Bullard
Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate
D.
A.G. Opinion
Page 5
The UCDSA does not require an out-of-state practitioner to possess an OBNDD
registration under title 63, section 2-302 of the Oklahoma Statutes before sending a
controlled drug prescription to an Oklahoma pharmacy.
Your last question asks whether the UCDSA requires a practitioner to obtain a registration from
OBNDD under title 63, section 2-302 when the patient care occurs outside of Oklahoma, but a
controlled drug prescription is sent to an Oklahoma pharmacy. Accordingly, this office must
construe provisions of the UCDSA relating to registration, prescribing, and dispensing to fully
answer your inquiry.
Generally, the UCDSA authorizes physicians and other practitioners who comply with its
registration requirement under title 63, section 2-302 to prescribe and administer controlled
substances in the course of their professional practice. 7 63 O.S.Supp.2022, § 2-312.
The registration requirement under the UCDSA provides:
Every person who manufactures, distributes, dispenses[, or] prescribes . . . any
controlled dangerous substance within or into this state, or who proposes to engage
in the manufacture, distribution, dispensing[, or] prescribing . . . of any controlled
dangerous substances within or into this state shall obtain a registration issued by
the Director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Director.
63 O.S.Supp.2023, § 2-302(A) (emphasis added).
In a vacuum, subsection A of section 2-302 subjects every person, without exception, to the
registration requirement under title 63, section 2-302 if the person dispenses or prescribes any
controlled dangerous substance within Oklahoma or that enters Oklahoma. 8 However, other
provisions of the UCDSA illuminate and render such a narrow and literal interpretation erroneous.
See Keating v. Edmondson, 2001 OK 110, ¶ 8, 37 P.3d 882 (legislative intent controls statutory
interpretation and this office must look to the whole act in light of its purposes and objectives,
considering relevant sections and subsections together). First, subsection H of section 2-302
including lawful interplay of state law and the Interstate Commerce Clause in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S.
Constitution’s. See State v. Rasmussen, 213 N.W.2d 661 (Iowa 1973); 1982 Ohio Op. Atty. Gen. 2-119; 1999 Ky. Op.
Atty. Gen. 2-41 (concerning state restrictions on out-of-state practitioners and prescribing authority).
7
Among other licensed professionals, the UCDSA refers to medical providers as “practitioners.” 63
O.S.Supp.2024, § 2-101(42)(a).
See 25 O.S.2021, § 1 (“Words used in any statute are to be understood in their ordinary sense, except when
a contrary intention plainly appears[.]”) Also, the Oklahoma Supreme Court “has relied on dictionary definitions to
provide the plain, ordinary meaning of terms.” Brassfield v. State, 2024 OK 9, ¶ 8, 544 P.3d 938, 941. MerriamWebster defines “every” as “each individual or part of a group without exception” and “into” as “a function word to
indicate entry” and “in the direction of.” Every, MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM, https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/every (last visited Feb. 6, 2025); Into, MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM, https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/into (last visited Feb. 6, 2025).
8
The Honorable Steve Bashore, Cody Maynard, and David Bullard
Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate
A.G. Opinion
Page 6
establishes nine exemptions to the general registration requirement in subsection A. Furthermore,
section 2-302 expressly addresses out-of-state persons who are subject to the OBNDD registration
requirement. Significantly here, only out-of-state pharmaceutical suppliers and wholesale
distributors who provide or supply controlled dangerous substances to Oklahoma pharmacies must
obtain an OBNDD registration. 63 O.S.Supp.2024, § 2-302(B). No similar express registration
requirement exists for an out-of-state prescriber. See Patterson v. Beall, 2000 OK 92, ¶ 24, 19 P.3d
839, 845 (“[T]he maxim ‘expressio unius est exclusio alterius,’ that the mention of one thing in a
statute impliedly excludes another thing, is used to determine legislative intent.” (citing PSO
v. State ex rel. Corporation Commission, 1992 OK 153, 842 P.2d 750, 753)). 9 Accordingly, the
UCDSA does not require an out-of-state practitioner to obtain an OBNDD registration under
section 2-302 prior to sending a controlled drug prescription into Oklahoma. 10
The final component of your inquiry asks whether an out-of-state practitioner who “sends” a
controlled drug prescription to an Oklahoma pharmacy must obtain an OBNDD registration. In
the context of your question, this office understands your inquiry relates to electronic prescribing.
Oklahoma law requires practitioners to use electronic prescribing for all controlled dangerous
substances in Schedules II, III, IV, and V. 63 O.S.Supp.2024, § 2-309(A), (B)(1). 11 However,
nothing in section 2-309 specifically requires practitioners to register with OBNDD before issuing
an electronic prescription for a controlled dangerous substance. 12 Therefore, the UCDSA does not
require an out-of-state licensed practitioner who provides patient care outside of Oklahoma to
Further supporting this construction are the 2018 legislative amendments to section 2-302, addressing a
growing state and national opioid health epidemic. House Bill 2796, 2018 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 251, § 1,
https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/legislation/56th/2018/2R/HB/2796.pdf?d=202520614 (last visited Feb. 6, 2025);
Oklahoma Senate, Committee approves bills to tackle opioid addiction in state (2018), https://oksenate.gov/pressreleases/committee-approves-bills-tackle-opioid-addiction-state (last visited Feb. 6, 2025). The 2018 legislative
amendments stem from the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse recommending the Legislature enact laws
subjecting suppliers, manufacturers, and wholesale distributors to the registration requirement. See 2018 Final Report,
Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse (on file with author). At least in part, the Legislature adopted the
Commission recommendations, enacting laws that thereafter subject wholesale distributors and suppliers to (a)
substantive reporting mandates, and (b) the registration requirement if they provide or distribute controlled substances
“within or into this state.” See supra House Bill 2796 (codified at 63 O.S.2021, § 2-302(B & D–E)).
9
The OBNDD also does not construe the UCDSA to require an out-of-state practitioner to obtain a
registration under 2-302. See supra footnote 3; see also Oral Roberts Univ. v. Oklahoma Tax Comm’n, 1985 OK 97,
¶ 9, 714 P.2d 1013, 1015; Stipe v. State ex rel. Bd. Of Trustees of Oklahoma Pub. Employees Ret. Sys., 2008 OK 52,
¶ 22, 188 P.3d 120, 126 (courts will not disturb the administrative construction of a statute when the Legislature had
acquiesced or otherwise not disapproved the agency interpretation); and 63 O.S.2021, § 2-301(A) (OBNDD is
responsible for “promulgat[ing] rules and regulations relating to the registration and control of the manufacture,
distribution, dispensing[, or] prescribing . . . of controlled dangerous substances within this state.”).
10
See also Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs Control, Electronic Prescribing and
Prescription Pads, https://www.obndd.ok.gov/registration-and-pmp/e-prescribing-and-rx-pads (last visited Feb. 6,
2025); House Bill No. 2931, 2018 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 255,
https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/legislation/56th/2018/2R/HB/2931.pdf?d=202520614 (last visited Feb. 6, 2025)
(amendment adding requirement that all scheduled drugs be electronically prescribed).
11
Cf. 63 O.S.Supp.2024, § 2-309(A)(10) (specifically requiring practitioners to be registered in Oklahoma
in order to purchase OBNDD-issued prescription forms).
12
The Honorable Steve Bashore, Cody Maynard, and David Bullard
Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate
A.G. Opinion
Page 7
register with OBNDD before prescribing a controlled drug and electronically sending it to an
Oklahoma pharmacy. 13
It is, therefore, the official Opinion of the Attorney General that:
1. An out-of-state medical practitioner does not need an Oklahoma license to
provide care to Oklahoma residents in the practitioner’s home state
outside of Oklahoma.
2. An out-of-state practitioner is not required under Oklahoma law to obtain
a license from an Oklahoma professional licensing board before
prescribing a controlled or non-controlled drug to an Oklahoma resident
being seen outside of Oklahoma.
3. The UCDSA does not require an out-of-state practitioner to possess an
OBNDD registration under title 63, section 2-302 of the Oklahoma Statutes
before sending a controlled drug prescription to an Oklahoma pharmacy.
GENTNER DRUMMOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA
BRENNA GIBSON
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
13
See supra footnote 7.