Research Reveals Heavy Concentration of General Practice Psych Prescriptions
October 2nd, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Headline
The fact that general practice physicians often prescribe anti-depression medication to their clients is well known, but the extent of the prescriptions, which account for over 50% of all prescriptions nationally, is not as renowned. Neither is the fact that general practice physicians account for a considerable amount the total prescriptions of other psychotropic drugs, such as anti-psychotics, stimulants, and anti-mania medications. But the recent creation of a research report by Thompson Reuters and SAMHSA, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is likely to increase the notoriety of its statistics on general practice prescriptions, which highlight a departure from traditional psychiatrist roles.
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There should be monitoring teams set up that make use of random people and snoop on medical practitioners and then check to see if they are over-prescribing anything. This, I think, will act as a deterrent against unwarranted prescriptions.
The prescription of any such consultation and program should be done with caution and the medical practitioner must be fully aware that a slight mistake can mar the recovery of the patient and can instead have negative implications.
Maybe there should be special licensing rules that allows only certain doctors to prescribe anti depressants?
General practitioners are trained- why shouldn’t they be allowed to prescribe? They are often the very first doctor someone will consult, and sometimes the only one that insurance will pay for a patient to see. Without their help there might be a large number of people who would never get the help that they need.
It is an evil thing to do for doctors to unnecessarily prescribe anything to a patients and I feel there has to be a regulating body that needs to be set up to monitor such cases/ complaints.
“General practitioners are trained- why shouldn’t they be allowed to prescribe? They are often the very first doctor someone will consult, and sometimes the only one that insurance will pay for a patient to see. Without their help there might be a large number of people who would never get the help that they need.”
Agreed. They are professionals and we cannot forget the insurance aspect. Internal case reviews within medical practices could be introduced. When a patient has been on the same medication without improvement for an extended period of time, say a year, and where improvement would have been expected, I feel that justifies review of their notes by other doctors within the practice.
Dishing out prescriptions is tackling the symptoms on the surface, not the problem at its root. What we really have to discover is why several patients need anti-depressants in the first place. Anti-depressants can help when combined with therapy sessions with an experienced therapist. All on their own, I’m not convinced the pills or the general practice physicians can do the job.
Are the general practice physicians up for admitting to their patients they need help beyond their professional capabilities? I get the feeling that egos are involved here too.