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In an editorial today, the Peoria Journal Star joins the “chorus of Illinois newspapers opposed to Illinois Senate Bill 2187, the so-called RxP bill that would allow psychologists to prescribe.”

“This bill requires too little training and oversight,” the paper wrote, calling the bill “an unnecessary risk to patient safety.”

The editorial articulates the same concerns that other critics of the bill have cited – inadequate training provisions and the fact that it would do nothing to improve patient access.

“Though the Illinois Psychological Association is pushing this bill, more than a few psychologists have serious reservations,” according to the editorial. “In fact only two states — Louisiana and New Mexico — have passed such legislation, and theirs have some additional safeguards that this bill does not.”

Twenty-six states have considered and rejected RxP legislation. Illinois legislators should listen to the many psychologists, patient advocacy groups and medical professionals who oppose this bill: “This bill is opposed by the Illinois State Medical Society and the Illinois chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest advocacy group for the mentally ill. That’s good enough for us,” the Journal Star wrote.

We can’t sum it up any better than today’s Journal Star: “This bill should be defeated.”

For more information, visit http://coalitionforpatientsafety.com.