Expand power to prescribe medication, advocates urge
Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)Apr 01, 2015
"It was almost impossible to get the help then, as it is now, to get him properly diagnosed," Klarin said. "There are very few resources if any. It's taken me this long, and only within the last six months am I actually getting the help I need for him to go forward."
Klarin and about a dozen mental health advocates gathered Tuesday outside the fourth-floor office of
House Bill 1072 would allow psychologists who undergo special training to prescribe medications for mentally ill patients, which supporters say would translate into better, more rapid care for people with mental illnesses who don't have ready access to a psychiatrist.
Psychologists have that prescriptive authority in
Klarin, a
"These are the people that are falling between the cracks and ending up in prison, that are ending up with the homeless tidal wave, that are ending up committing suicide, and I won't stand for it," Klarin said, her voice breaking with emotion. "I won't let my son fall through the cracks, and that's why I'm here. I'm here to help somebody else so they don't have to go through what my family has been going through."
Advocates said
The issue of granting prescriptive authority for psychologists has been kicked around at the
Santiago served in
Physicians in rural areas support the bill, including Dr.
"They will stop at nothing to stop this bill," he said.
Green (D,
"Any significant change in prescription patterns requires some collaboration between the primary prescribers, meaning physicians and psychologists," Green said. "They will need to work together, and I have expressed to both sides that I need to see some consensus."
Green said the psychologists will rely on the physicians if a patient has a reaction to the drugs and needs to be hospitalized.
"We're a small state. It's going to actually require a partnership, and there still is animosity between psychologists and medical doctors. I've simply asked that they work through some of that animosity for the benefit of the patients," he said.
The measure is not currently scheduled for a hearing.
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