President-Elect Faces Many Challenges

As president-elect of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association, Patricia Toups, M.D., probably has more challenges to face than her counterparts in APA's other district branches. She described some of them and potential solutions for APA Trustees at their March meeting in Arlington, Va.

She pointed out that Louisiana psychiatrists as well as other caregivers, first responders, and local officials are not just crossing their fingers and hoping that a future disaster will have minimal impact compared with that of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana psychiatrists and others are, for example, forming a coalition of diverse groups so that a future disaster response will be far more effective than last year's, she noted.

Toups emphasized that while Katrina was the worst natural disaster to hit her state, “the worst legislative disaster occurred” in 2004 when legislators granted psychologists the right to prescribe psychoactive drugs. Louisiana psychologists who qualify for that right have formed the American Academy of Medical Psychology, she said, and can add the designation“ M.P.” after their names when they sign prescriptions. She suspects a push is imminent by psychologists to be allowed to prescribe medications “in state mental health facilities and developmental centers, since they already work there.” This would mean they would oversee medical care for the most seriously mentally ill patients.

She thanked the Board for providing APA grants to help the district branch respond to these scope-of-practice efforts.