Strickland says mental health drug preauthorization will proceed

In a follow-up to last week's story about the state Medicaid program requiring preauthorization for certain specialized mental health drugs, Gov. Strickland said he gave "extensive thought" to the decision and he still intends to implement the policy, despite a request from Senate Republicans to suspend the plan. (Source: Gongwer Report, Dec. 17, 2007.) "We would not want to deprive anyone from getting the medication they need," Strickland said, but added that the pharmaceutical industry "can be very creative in the way it markets medications and the way it looks after its profits, and I don’t want to be gullible when it comes to the use of limited resources."