"The American Psychological Association is quite pleased that Louisiana enacted a law allowing prescription privileges for appropriately trained psychologists," says Russ Newman, Ph.D., J.D., executive director for professional practice, American Psychological Association. "This law will help improve access to badly needed care, with current waiting times to see a psychiatrist in Louisiana reported to be as much as six months."
Louisiana House Bill 1426 requires that only psychologists who have completed a post-doctoral master's degree in clinical psychopharmacology from a regionally accredited institution and have passed a national examination approved by the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists can prescribe. In addition, the psychologist, termed by the law as a "medical psychologist," is required to work collaboratively with the patient's physician when prescribing medication. The bill limits the prescriptive authority to medications for nervous and mental health disorders only.
"This is a historic moment for health care in Louisiana," says Cathy Castille, Ph.D., president of the Louisiana Psychological Association. "This law will improve access to care and coordination of care for people needing mental health services."
"A number of independent evaluations of the training like that required by the Louisiana law have clearly demonstrated that psychologists can be trained to prescribe safely an
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Contact: Luana Bossolo
202-336-5899
American Psychological Association Practice Directorate
6-May-2004