Dive Summary:
- A suit filed against Harvard in the 2007 suicide of Harvard student Johnny Edwards provides insight into the difficulties facing colleges in the diagnosis of, and prescription of medications for, A.D.H.D.
- Depression is a side-effect of Adderall abuse, and Edwards killed himself six months after his diagnosis, shortly after also being prescribed antidepressants.
- Among the accusations in his lawsuit, Edwards' father, John, argues that his son never had A.D.H.D. and that Harvard's diagnostic procedure and prescription of Adderall didn't meet medical standards.
- Though some colleges are cracking down on the diagnosis of A.D.H.D. and prescription of stimulants used to treat it, Harvard Student Health Services doesn't have a specific policy, and diagnosis of the condition and prescription of meds by a clinical nurse are both legal under Massachusetts law.
From the article:
... Harvard attests that Johnny Edwards’s care was “thorough and appropriate,” according to a university statement. The trial is scheduled to begin next February in Massachusetts Superior Court.
In pretrial testimony, Marianne Cannon, the clinical nurse specialist who initially evaluated Mr. Edwards, detailed why she made the diagnosis and wrote Adderall prescriptions, both legal under Massachusetts law. (Some states require doctors to perform those roles.) ...