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‘Low Dose of medication’
Is anyone else seeing this as the basis for rubbishing their clients’ claims? I have had several cases where the above is given as justification for not accepting what the client says in their PIP2 forms.
All the time. My favourite is ‘anti-psychotic medication but at standard dose’...
Do tribunals take it on board? My arguments are that many folks have meds that manage their condition but don’t necessarily enable them to self-care. Others can’t tolerate higher doses or simply haven’t been reviewed.
This often appears in papers I have seen as “is on low to moderate medication for pain relief” in HCP reports - once seen stated for a client who was on Morphine. The Drs on the tribunal panel often ask questions around this, particularly when there is a cocktail of other medication to take, as they take the “low dosage” in relation to the interaction with other medication rather than in isolation as the HCP apparently does.
It falls into the same category as “not currently undergoing any treatment or therapy” so needs exploring with the claimant / their GP as to why.
Certainly bears pre-empting the issue by addressing it in the submission.
Although I know that we still get the argument that ATOS are “trained disability analysts” ..blah blah, I still check NMC register in MH cases to see if assessor is a mental health nurse. So when they come out with this rubbish, I still point out that they could not possibly understand my client’s issues….
Last tribunal Judge had a rant at the DWP PO regarding Nurses that are not MH trained assessing MH cases, whilst I quietly smirked.
Good tip, Geri G. Thanks