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APA Battles Bill Allowing Psychologists to Prescribe in Illinois

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APA is working with the Illinois Psychiatric Society (IPS) to contest against a bill recently introduced to the Illinois Senate that would allow psychologists to prescribe medications to their patients. The bill (SB 2187) stipulates that the Illinois Psychological Society is to provide 20 percent of the training psychologists would need to prescribe in the state. The psychologists would also be overseen by the Illinois Psychological Licensing Board instead of the state medical licensing board (which is the case for Louisiana and New Mexico, the only other states allowing psychologists to prescribe).

“As it was deliberately drafted, the bill directly financially benefits the Illinois Psychological Association,” said Lisa Rone, M.D., a past president of the IPS and a current IPS representative to the APA Assembly in a recent interview with Psychiatric News, “this is an appalling conflict of interest.”
The bill would require “graduation with a master’s degree in clinical psychopharmacology from a regionally accredited institution,” which could be interpreted to include online programs.

To read more on this bill, read the advanced article from Psychiatric News here. 

(Image: Vepar5/Shutterstock)