Might prescribing a high dose pose legal problems for the clinician?
The FDA has set certain limits on what is an approved level of stimulant medication dosing. If a patient has a serious adverse effect from taking what is regarded as some as a high dose of stimulants, it may put the clinician at risk for a malpractice suit. While this risk is greater if no informed consent discussion has been held and documented, a suit might be brought even if this discussion was documented. As community and national practice standards have increasingly supported doses in adults that are higher than the FDA approved dose levels, the clinician has more support than in the past for using such doses. However, it is still not established what the limits of acceptably high doses are. Any clinician who has concerns about this should probably consult with his or her malpractice carrier for counsel on this topic. Clinicians may be concerned that the Drug Enforcement Agency may question their prescribing practices if they use higher doses. I am not an expert in this area but d
