Opinion ID: 1632443
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Prozac Prescription

Text: The trial court concluded that Mrs. Cochran essentially commandeered a prescription for Prozac as a treatment for W.G. and that she did so precipitously. This conclusion is without factual support. Mrs. Cochran's first recourse for treatment of W.G. was Dr. JoAnne W. Ray, a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Ray was W.G.'s longtime therapist, having provided therapeutic services to W.G. soon after the couple's divorce in 2001 for symptoms of mood disturbance and defiant behavior. At another time, Dr. Ray performed [a] kindergarten evaluation of W.G. in connection with his enrollment at a private school. In August 2004, Mrs. Cochran had again engaged the services of Dr. Ray for treatment of anxiety and moodiness that W.G. was experiencing. Indeed, Mr. Cochran had, several months earlier, recommended to Mrs. Cochran that she seek counseling for W.G. Both Mr. Cochran and Mrs. Cochran participated in W.G.'s sessions with Dr. Ray. Those counseling sessions continued until mid-November 2004. By that time, Dr. Ray had become dissatisfied with the progress of the sessions, and, according to Mrs. Cochran, she recommended that W.G. be evaluated by a psychiatrist for possible medication. [2] She gave Mrs. Cochran the names of the only two psychiatrists in Alabama whom she would recommend. However, Mrs. Cochran was unable to locate one of those doctors, and the other was not accepting any new patients. Mrs. Cochran then discussed Dr. Ray's recommendation with Dr. Catherine L. Wood, a pediatrician at Partners in Pediatrics (hereinafter referred to as the Partners), who had been one of the primary physicians for the children since birth. After that discussion and throughout the next two years, Dr. Wood, as well as her associate, Dr. Susan A. Brannon, another of the children's life-long primary physicians, prescribed Prozac for W.G. During that time, Mr. Cochran discussed the medication with Dr. Wood and Dr. Brannon. According to Mr. Cochran, he understood that the medication was to help the child through a dark mood. The only basis for the trial court's statement that Prozac was administered even  after the physician recommended stopping the medication  (emphasis added) appears to be an assertion in Mr. Cochran's amended petition to that effect with reference to Dr. Wood. However, Mr. Cochran presented no testimony from Dr. Wood or from any other physician concerning W.G.'s taking of Prozac. Moreover, in his own trial testimony, Mr. Cochran agreed that Dr. Wood and Dr. Brannon prescribed the Prozac until some point in late ... November 2006. (Emphasis added.) The medication ceased in November 2006. In other words, the trial testimony directly refuted the allegation that Prozac was administered to W.G. after the prescribing physician recommended that it be stopped. Neither does the record support the trial court's assertion that an incident at school precipitated the prescription for Prozac. W.G. was suspended from classes for two days because of an inappropriate message he had drawn. However, according to Mr. Cochran's brief, the incident at school occurred in December 2004. Mr. Cochran's brief, at 14. It is clear from the record that the Prozac treatment began the preceding month. Thus, although Mr. Cochran allegedly disapproved of the course of treatment prescribed by the Partners, it is apparent that the course of treatment was the culmination of a methodical, regular, and responsible process.