The Coalition, a statewide group of individuals and organizations working in partnership to protect the rights of North Carolinians living with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and the disease of addiction, has joined with one of its member agencies, The Coalition for Persons Disabled by Mental Illness (CPDMI) to emphasize their belief that access to medications for persons with severe and persistent mental illness is an important part of the treatment continuum. The organizations note that there are relatively few psychiatric medications compared to the universe of all medication, and to limit access to any of these creates a disproportionate hardship for those with mental illness.

Psychiatric medications are truly unique from other prescription medications in that it may take weeks or months before the benefit of a certain drug can be determined. It is critical to find the “right” medication for a patient as soon as possible to try to prevent an acute situation from becoming a chronic condition. Compliance is a huge issue for many individuals with mental illness thus being able to have access to medications with the least side effects for a particular individual may improve compliance and chances for recovery.

CPDMI would have grave concerns about any attempts to save money by limiting access to psychiatric medications and believes it would actually result in increased costs to the state and tragic consequences to consumers. CPDMI supports that language in the current House budget that allows Medicaid recipients the ability to get the mental health medications they need.

As Anthony Pugh of Randolph County said, “Easy access to medications has been crucial part of my recovery. It saves tax dollars in the long run as it keeps mental health consumers stable and out of the mental health hospitalization revolving door.”

For more information on issues affecting individuals and families who manage disabilities, mental illness or the disease of addiction, visit www.thecoalitionnc.org.