True or False: Public health service practitioners require individual registration with the DEA.

Public health service practitioners are generally exempt from individual registration with the DEA when they are performing their duties as part of their official duties. Instead, they operate under the registration of the U.S. Public Health Service. This means they do not need to obtain a separate DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances in the context of their federal employment.

The rationale behind this exemption is to ensure that practitioners can provide needed medical services without the added burden of individual registration, as they are often involved in public health initiatives and programs that require timely access to controlled substances.

Options suggesting conditional registration—like only if they operate independently or treat civilians—are not aligned with the established regulatory framework for public health service practitioners, further supporting why the answer is false. In summary, their official capacity allows them to bypass individual DEA registration requirements.