NAMI Illinois Rejects Psychologists’ Attempts to Gain Prescription Privileges

[HereSince1628]

2. There is a multi-state effort on to gain prescibing privileges to non MD therapists.

IMO, a computer algorithm can do reasonably well at this sort of work, so there is really no reason why, with proper training a PhD couldn't learn how to do this. Other areas have expanded prescription powers...at the Milwaukee V.A. I don't see an MD for cholesterol Rx's, rather my prescriptions are written by PhD pharmacist interns working under an experienced pharmacist.

From a perimedical point of view, the politics of medicine involve a lot of artificial delineations. One of the seriously harmful delineations is the artificial separation of mental health from medicine.

The problems with that go well beyond mere protecting of profitable positions within the healthcare marketplace. It creates an illusion that mental illnesses are something distinct from medical illnesses and that they don't deserve, or receive, equivalent treatment from health care funders.

So NAMI's position is complex. On balance the NAMI Illinois folks have decided that insisting that prescribing psychiatric medication be a role of an MD is in the best interest of integrating medicine and psychiatry.