ADHD parents ‘freaking out’ over Georgia bill to limit prescriptions

Jan. 23, 2017 - Norwin School Distict Superintendent of Schools, William H. Kerr shows materials being considered in use in the development of a curriculum for educating students in the district about opioid drug addiction. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Jan. 23, 2017 - Norwin School Distict Superintendent of Schools, William H. Kerr shows materials being considered in use in the development of a curriculum for educating students in the district about opioid drug addiction. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Parents of children with disorders like ADHD are "freaking out" over proposed Georgia legislation that apparently could force them to get prescriptions for medications every five days, said a consultant who helps navigate the disorder.

“It would be beyond untenable,” said Elaine Taylor-Klaus, co-founder of ImpactADHD, where she is a parent coach.

The key sponsor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday that the bill will be fixed.

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The measure, Senate Bill 81, is mostly designed to deal with the opioid crisis that is ravaging parts of the United States and Georgia, especially in rural areas. It eases access to Naloxone, a drug that in some cases can instantly reverse an opioid overdose.

The bill’s sponsors include some of the most influential lawmakers in the Senate, including the Senate Rules Committee Chairman, Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, and the chairwoman of the committee that will hear the bill, Renee Unterman, R-Buford.

Unterman said in an interview before the hearing Thursday that the provision was inserted in error. And rather than restricting an entire schedule of drugs, she said, it will specify opioids and opioid derivatives.

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That will be good news for the patients and their parents that Taylor-Klaus works with.

“They can’t believe it would happen,” she said. “But there’s a lot of things happening these days they can’t believe would happen.”