I-STOP and the Prescription Monitoring Program: what it means if you take ADHD medication

If you take a stimulant for ADHD in New York, each fill is logged in a state database, and your prescriber looks at that database before sending the next prescription. The system is routine and applies to every patient on a controlled substance. Knowing what it holds and who may see it answers most of the questions people have about it.

What I-STOP is

I-STOP is the common name for the New York law that created the duty to consult the Prescription Monitoring Program Registry, usually shortened to the PMP Registry, which is run by the Department of Health's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

The statutory basis is Public Health Law section 3343-a. It says every practitioner shall consult the registry before prescribing or dispensing a Schedule II, III or IV controlled substance, with listed exceptions. The Department of Health states that the duty took effect on August 27, 2013 and applies to most prescribers.

ADHD stimulants, the amphetamine and methylphenidate medications, are Schedule II, so they are always covered. Atomoxetine and viloxazine are not controlled substances, so a prescription for one of them does not trigger the duty to consult.

What the prescriber has to do

Under 10 NYCRR 80.63(c)(1), the registry must be consulted "no more than 24 hours prior to" prescribing, and the prescriber must document the check in your chart. A stimulant cannot be refilled, so each new prescription means a new check. For most people on ADHD medication that happens every month, or every three months when the prescriber writes a longer supply.

A practitioner may authorize a designee to run the search. The statute requires that designees be employed by, or under contract with, the same practice.

The rule is the same for video visits. Telehealth prescriptions are subject to the same registry consultation and the same electronic prescribing requirements as office visits. Telehealth ADHD prescriptions in New York covers the rest of the telehealth rules.

What the registry records

According to the Department of Health, patient reports "include all controlled substances that were dispensed in New York State and reported by the pharmacy/dispenser for the past year." The record is of what a pharmacy dispensed.

Pharmacies must report each controlled-substance dispensing to the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement within 24 hours of delivery, or within 72 hours of shipment for mail delivery (10 NYCRR 80.73(f)(1)). In practice, your prescriber sees a list of fills from the last twelve months, whoever wrote the prescriptions and whichever New York pharmacy filled them.

Several consequences follow.

• A new prescriber will see the fills your previous prescriber authorized. This usually helps, because it confirms your treatment history. See switching ADHD prescribers in New York.
• Any other controlled substance dispensed to you in New York in the past year appears on the same report.
• Fill dates are visible, which is how a prescriber or pharmacist can tell whether a request falls inside the seven-day early-fill limit explained in New York's rules for ADHD stimulant prescriptions.
• A replacement prescription after loss or theft will appear like any other fill.

Fills in other states

New York's registry is interoperable with many other states' registries, and prescribers can run a "Search Other States" query, according to the Department of Health's registry FAQ (May 2025). It is not connected to every state.

New York and New Jersey announced that they had begun sharing PMP data on April 14, 2016. Whether that link is still active in 2026 could not be confirmed from a current official partner list, so do not assume either way. If you fill prescriptions in both states, tell each prescriber.

Who can look, and who cannot

Public Health Law 3343-a says registry information is accessible only by practitioners, pharmacists or their designees, for the purposes the statute sets out, or as otherwise provided in sections 3371 and 3371-a. The Department must monitor and record every access.

Section 3371-a, which the statute cross-references, was not reviewed for this article and may add further recipients. The broader question of who can see a diagnosis, including insurers that process your claims and employers that ask for medical forms, is covered in who can see your ADHD diagnosis and prescriptions in New York.

Seeing your own record

Public Health Law 3343-a(6) directs the Commissioner of Health to establish procedures by which a person may request and obtain their own controlled substances history, seek review of disputed information, and have inaccurate information promptly revised. Section 3371 also allows a practitioner to give a patient a copy of the history the practitioner retrieved.

The published procedure for making a request directly to the state could not be located on the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's pages as of October 13, 2026. The dependable route is to ask your prescriber for a copy of your report at a visit. For the state procedure, write to the Bureau at narcotic@health.ny.gov.

What this means in practice

• Tell a new prescriber about every controlled substance you take. The registry will show New York fills anyway, and matching accounts make the first visit quicker.
• Use one prescriber for your stimulant at a time. Fills authorized by different prescribers appear together on the report.
• If something on your report looks wrong, such as a fill you never picked up, ask the prescriber and the pharmacy to look into it, and use your statutory right to seek a correction.
• Expect the check whenever you change prescribers or clinics. The duty applies before every Schedule II prescription.

The registry is one piece of a larger set of rules. For supply limits, the ban on refills and the seven-day rule, continue to New York's rules for ADHD stimulant prescriptions. General reading on medication is collected in the treatment and medication hub.