Bill Text: HI HCR165 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: University of Hawaii at Hilo; Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy; Psychopharmacology Program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-28 - The committee(s) on HLT recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HCR165 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-HCR165-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
165 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
rEQUESTING the uNIVERSITY OF HAWAII BOARD OF REGENTS TO ANALYZE THE VALIDITY, EFFECTIVENESS, AND ETHICAL standards of THE PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY PROGRAM OFFERED AT THE uNIVERSITY OF HAWAII at hILO daniel k. inouye college of pharmacy.
WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo offers a Master of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) degree within the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP); and
WHEREAS, the mission of the DKICP MSCP program is to "educate clinical psychology practitioners and leaders" and to "provide community service, including quality patient care"; and
WHEREAS, for clinical psychologists with a specialty in psychopharmacology, the MSCP degree provides the opportunity to prescribe psychotropic medications in locales where prescribing authority for psychologists has been authorized; and
WHEREAS, 47 states do not allow psychologists to prescribe medication; and
WHEREAS, prescribing authority has not been granted to psychologists in the State of Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature has rejected bills pertaining to prescriptive authority for psychologists in Hawaii 11 times, from 1996 to 2009; and
WHEREAS, similar bills have been rejected over 150 times by legislatures across the nation; and
WHEREAS, the most prevalent argument advanced against prescriptive privileges for psychologists is the discrepancy in training and educational background between psychologists and prescribing professionals, and the ensuing potential risk of suboptimal care to patients; and
WHEREAS, the National Alliance on Mental Illness views medication as having very significant side effects and believes that the health care professionals allowed to prescribe medication should have significant medical training; and
WHEREAS, the standard training required of medically trained health care professionals includes medical school and prerequisite-level coursework in chemistry, biology, mathematics, and microbiology; and
WHEREAS, psychologists are not required to complete coursework in biology, chemistry, physiology, medicine, and the other sciences required of all other disciplines qualified to prescribe medication, including primary care physicians, psychiatrists, advanced practice registered nurses, advanced practice psychiatric nurses, and appropriately trained and supervised physician assistants; and
WHEREAS, the training of all non-medically trained mental health care professionals, such as psychologists, have little or no overlap with the standard training required of medically trained health care professionals; and
WHEREAS, the training that psychologists receive does not adequately prepare them to prescribe potentially dangerous psychotropic medications, nor are they trained to screen for or manage diseases, such as thyroid disorders, cancers, delirium, and lupus, all of which can manifest themselves with mental health symptoms; and
WHEREAS, psychologists lack the training to evaluate and manage side effects and complex medication interactions, including metabolic syndrome, sexual dysfunction, seizures, extrapyramidal symptoms, serotonin syndrome, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, all of which may be side effects of medications prescribed for mental health disorders; and
WHEREAS, psychologists are not trained to understand the effects of medications on the brain, kidney, heart, liver, skin, and other organs of the human body; and
WHEREAS, a prevalent argument in support of prescriptive authority for Hawaii psychologists is the need of residents for increased access to medical care, especially in rural areas; and
WHEREAS, in Hawaii and throughout the United States, there are a number of alternative health care solutions being explored in order to address such needs; and
WHEREAS, one proven solution to aid in addressing unmet medical needs on the Neighbor Islands is Project ECHO, which focuses on expanding the capacity to provide best practice care for common and complex diseases in rural and underserved areas and to monitor outcomes; and
WHEREAS, in September 2015, the Defense Health Agency began a formal collaboration with ECHO Pain (DHA Telementoring Program) in order to align and synchronize ECHO efforts across the United States Department of Defense, support Air Force Pain ECHO, and develop the technical services needed to increase the capacity of primary care providers within the Military Health System to safely and effectively treat chronic, common, and complex conditions; and
WHEREAS, as of 2016, Project ECHO has 48 hubs located all around the United States as well as 22 hubs across 11 countries; and
WHEREAS, all 50 states and the District of Columbia authorize nurse practitioners or other advanced practice nursing professionals to prescribe certain medications, including psychiatric medications, with certain conditions; and
WHEREAS, prescriptive authority for psychologists has not solved the mental health needs of the rural communities in those very few states that have implemented such laws; and
WHEREAS, despite promises made in New Mexico and Louisiana, psychologists did not and do not move their practices to serve rural communities; and
WHEREAS, according to distribution studies performed by the American Medical Association, the two states with a history of allowing for psychologists' prescriptive authority -- New Mexico and Louisiana -- show that psychologists do not move to areas with an underserved mental health population but rather to the same areas currently served by psychiatrists and primary care physicians; and
WHEREAS, it is in the interest of the health, safety, and well-being of the state to further consider the appropriateness of conferring prescriptive authority to various health care professionals to provide greater access to care in rural areas; and
WHEREAS, the American Psychological Association leadership has been accused of colluding with the military and the Central Intelligence Agency for more than a decade to support torture; and
WHEREAS, there have been recent reports that a review of publications of important psychological papers found that over 50 percent of those studies could not be reproduced; and
WHEREAS, the same leadership was sued by its members regarding the inappropriate use of membership funds to support the issue of prescriptive privileges, and a substantial judgment was rendered, forcing the return of those funds; and
WHEREAS, this same association has accredited the DKICP MSCP program; and
WHEREAS, an increasing number of psychologists receive their training at and degrees from what have been termed "free-standing professional schools", and some of these for-profit schools are characterized by psychology students as "diploma mills", "diploma factories", and "diploma online retailers"; and
WHEREAS, graduates of these free-standing professional schools are eligible to enroll in the DKICP MSCP program and thereby seek prescriptive privileges; and
WHEREAS, the current Program Coordinator for the DKCIP MSCP is not a physician, psychologist, or doctor of pharmacy; and
WHEREAS, given the controversial and undecided climate surrounding prescriptive privileges for psychologists, the Legislature would benefit from an analysis of the necessity and effectiveness of existing programs within the University of Hawaii that are dedicated to training clinical psychologists to prescribe medication when such authority is not granted in the state; and
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the University of Hawaii Board of Regents is requested to study the validity, effectiveness, and underlying ethical standards of the psychopharmacology program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii Board of Regents is requested to analyze the psychopharmacology program regarding its usefulness for psychologists and analyze the limited time and curriculum requirements that need to be met in order for a graduate to obtain prescriptive authority; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii is requested to direct the Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine to convene a group to evaluate the psychopharmacology program and the knowledge of the graduates of this program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, President of the University of Hawaii, Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and Acting Dean of the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.
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OFFERED BY: |
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University of Hawaii at Hilo; Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy; Psychopharmacology Program
