NAMI-NC: Fearing unintended consequences

The state Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that the start of its Preferred Drug List  (PDL) program could save NC taxpayers more than $90 million annually. To realize those savings, doctors for the state’s nearly two million Medicaid patients will be urged to prescribe generic and lower-cost drugs that have been proven effective.

NAMI-NC says while it can appreciate the state’s efforts to stretch its resources, it has “grave concerns” about how the PDL will be implemented. Executive director Debra Dihoff recently wrote to DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler:

“We truly fear that the unintended consequences of strict limits to psychiatric medications will hurt people, will contribute to treatment relapse, and will further burden our emergency departments and other community resources with patients who become unstable.”

Dihoff discusses this and other pressing problems facing North Carolina’s mental health system this weekend on “News & Views with Chris Fitzsimon.” For a preview of the interview, please click below: