Our Prescribing Policies

You should know that we obey Arizona law, meaning we cannot and do not prescribe medications for patients who are not yet legal patients of record, so we cannot prescribe prior to your initial evaluation. 

We also have strict policies regarding controlled, illicit, or illegal substances, as follows:

• We perform random, oral or urine drug testing on all patients being prescribed or considered for controlled substances.  We will also perform random drug testing should a patient’s status be concerning for risk of a substance use disorder and appear to clinically compromise the patient’s safety, or our safety as prescribing providers.

• Under NO circumstances will we prescribe controlled substances if you are positive at any time for marijuana or certain levels of alcohol, opioids, or other controlled substances, even if these substances are prescribed or recreationally legal.  Something being legal or “natural” does NOT make it safe or healthy.  PATIENT SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY!

• We will NOT prescribe stimulants at the first visit, and unless/until we have confirmed that they are medically necessary.  If we suspect that a legitimate AD/HD may be at play, we refer to neuropsychological testing to thoroughly and properly quantify frontal executive functioning prior to considering anything stimulant-based or controlled. All humans have attention deficits, but not all have primary AD/HD.

• Under NO circumstances will we prescribe more than 30 benzodiazepines in a month.  This includes medications such as Xanax (alprazolam), Ativan (lorazepam), Valium (diazepam), Klonopin (clonazepam), and any other similar medication.  Our goal is not to create vicious, addictive cycles; our goal is to TREAT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM so that you no longer need daily rescue medications with dependence potential.

Our detailed policy is outlined in your new patient paperwork, as well as posted in our lobby, available to all patients at any time.