Dr. Maura Young:

I cannot answer that because I am not aware of the specific details and it would not be appropriate to comment in this forum on a specific case. What I can say is that where medication was prescribed by a consultant, that was deemed to be with the knowledge and awareness of the consultant. They are on a specialist register and have the experience and training to do that. As Dr. Burke said, although it would not be usual practice to prescribe an anti-depressant on the first visit, it can and does happen. The consultant may have looked at the case and determined that it was appropriate for an anti-depressant to be prescribed in the first instance.