21 CFR § 290.10 - Definition of emergency situation.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t21/s290.10"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "21 CFR § 290.10 - Definition of emergency situation."
title_number: 21
title_name: "Food and Drugs"
section_number: "290.10"
section_name: "Definition of emergency situation."
chapter_name: "FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "DRUGS: GENERAL"
part_number: "290"
part_name: "CONTROLLED DRUGS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "21 U.S.C. 352, 353, 355, 371."
regulatory_source: "40 FR 14040, Mar. 27, 1975, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "290"
---


# 290.10 Definition of emergency situation.

For the purposes of authorizing an oral prescription of a controlled substance listed in schedule II of the Federal Controlled Substances Act, the term *emergency situation* means those situations in which the prescribing practitioner determines:

(a) That immediate administration of the controlled substance is necessary, for proper treatment of the intended ultimate user; and

(b) That no appropriate alternative treatment is available, including administration of a drug which is not a controlled substance under schedule II of the Act, and

(c) That it is not reasonably possible for the prescribing practitioner to provide a written prescription to be presented to the person dispensing the substance, prior to the dispensing.