Doctors must prescribe with greater caution
The recent news of Richard Fee has thrown us back into debate surrounding misuse of drugs. A successful college student who committed suicide after abusing and becoming addicted to attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder medication has brought the role of doctors into light, too.
ADHD medications, much like guns and drugs and substances with high risk of abuse and destructive capabilities, must be heavily controlled. Just as the recent slew of shootings performed by mentally unstable people reflects a clear need for stricter background checks and controls, the numerous cases of Adderall abuse that lead to tragic situations as Richard Fee’s should be a warning to the medical world that an individual’s own judgment is often not sufficient.
In the past, doctors have openly admitted to prescribing ADHD medicine to low-income children who don’t have ADHD solely to enhance their performance in school, using it as a buffer for disadvantaged children when their families cannot afford educational supplements such as tutoring. In many of these cases, the children suffer long-term psychological damage at no repercussions to the doctors. The fact that doctors continue to loosely prescribe ADHD medications without delving deep into the individuals’ backgrounds is disturbing.
While there is no simple way to control the black market for prescription drugs, there should be more government controls and regulations for legal issuances of the drug. Rather than prescribing medication to placate patients who seek immediate solutions to their problems, doctors have a greater duty to society as well as the long-term well-being of the individual..