The scope of physician assistants' practice can be highly controversial, with prescriptive authority varying across states.
PAs have full prescriptive authority in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., according to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Academy of Physician Assistants. Data is pulled from Barton Associates' Interactive Physician Assistant Scope of Practice Law Guide. Full prescriptive authority refers to whether PA prescriptive authority is determined at the practice level by the supervising physician.
45 places PAs have full prescriptive authority:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
6 states where PAs don't have full prescriptive authority:
Arkansas — PAs are not authorized to prescribe Schedule II medications.
Georgia — PAs are not authorized to prescribe Schedule II medications.
Kentucky — PAs may not prescribe or administer Schedule II medications.
Missouri — PAs are not authorized to prescribe Schedule II medications.
Oklahoma — Board defines scope prescriptions PA may prescribe.
West Virginia — Full prescriptive authority pending; to become effective July 8.
Editor's note: This article was updated with new information for Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine and West Virginia on June 7 at 9 am.