Florida Medical Society Quote: A Must Read

Quotations like this must be challenged......

“There is no such thing as a nurse practitioner who is ‘qualified’ to prescribe controlled substances,” said Erin Van Sickle, a spokeswoman for the FMA on Tuesday. “The Florida Medical Association is extremely concerned about the nurse practitioners’ continued attempts to gain prescriptive authority for these medications. The ability to prescribe controlled substances is limited to medical doctors for a reason: to protect patient safety. Physicians go to medical school to learn how to prescribe controlled substances safely and without interacting with other medications. ARNPs do not.”

“Florida lawmakers have worked diligently to protect patients from those who would attempt to prescribe narcotics to patients without the training required by Florida law, and that is the safe, accountable, and common-sense thing to do,” continued Van Sickle. “We simply can’t understand why the nurse practitioners would make such an unconscionable attempt to throw away the protections they have put in place.”

“The bottom line is, ARNPs do not have the training nor the qualifications necessary to prescribe these medications,” she said. “If they want to prescribe controlled substances, we would encourage them to go to medical school and receive the proper training to do so.”

See article below.

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/looking-write-controlled-prescriptions-nurse-practicioners-looking-engage-mike-haridopolos#comment-5956