abuse history? Can they do that? Situation:
My brother (28 yo) has been battling depression, anxiety and ADHD all of his life. He visits a psychologist once a month and has received non-addictive meds prescribed to him for depression, but has taken them and doesn't like the side effects so he discontinued their use.
He's only been prescribed 3 different types of non-addictive meds in the past year (in the past year he just started considering medication for his mental issues, he used to take Ritalin when he was an adolescent but discontinued it after high school).
He feels that he can battle the depression without medication, but feels he needs medicine to help combat his ADHD so he can focus. He's unable to drive because he loses focus so easily. The psychiatrist refuses to prescribe him any addictive medication to help with his ADHD even though he has no drug abuse history and no indication that he would abuse the meds.
His appearance is unkempt and he has poor hygiene which is the only indication I can think of that one may suspect him being a drug abuser, but I feel that is outright discrimination brought on by unfounded assumptions that have no merit.
My question is basically this: "Can a psychiatrist legally refuse to prescribe addictive medication to a patient with no drug history and no solid evidence besides assumptions based on an unkempt appearance or is that just outright discrimination?"
I should add the psychiatrist accused him of being a "drug seeker"
We are located in the USA, the state of North Carolina
My brother (28 yo) has been battling depression, anxiety and ADHD all of his life. He visits a psychologist once a month and has received non-addictive meds prescribed to him for depression, but has taken them and doesn't like the side effects so he discontinued their use.
He's only been prescribed 3 different types of non-addictive meds in the past year (in the past year he just started considering medication for his mental issues, he used to take Ritalin when he was an adolescent but discontinued it after high school).
He feels that he can battle the depression without medication, but feels he needs medicine to help combat his ADHD so he can focus. He's unable to drive because he loses focus so easily. The psychiatrist refuses to prescribe him any addictive medication to help with his ADHD even though he has no drug abuse history and no indication that he would abuse the meds.
His appearance is unkempt and he has poor hygiene which is the only indication I can think of that one may suspect him being a drug abuser, but I feel that is outright discrimination brought on by unfounded assumptions that have no merit.
My question is basically this: "Can a psychiatrist legally refuse to prescribe addictive medication to a patient with no drug history and no solid evidence besides assumptions based on an unkempt appearance or is that just outright discrimination?"
I should add the psychiatrist accused him of being a "drug seeker"
We are located in the USA, the state of North Carolina