ratush recovery
Clinical Scope

Clinical Scope and Limitations

The practice is intentionally private, physician-led, and limited. That makes boundaries more important, not less.

Written and reviewed by Edward Ratush, MD
Last reviewed:

This page is educational only and does not replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Ratush Recovery is not an emergency service or crisis line. If there is immediate danger or a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. For mental health or substance-use crisis support, call or text 988.

Direct answer

Ratush Recovery is a private medical practice, not a hospital, detox facility, residential program, emergency service, or crisis line. The practice considers selected patients and families when the proposed work is medically, legally, and logistically appropriate. A consultation does not guarantee acceptance, prescribing, stabilization at home, or any specific outcome.

What the practice does

The practice provides comprehensive consultation, physician-led medical judgment, medication strategy when appropriate, family coordination with consent, medical stabilization at home only when clinically indicated, and twelve months of direct physician continuity for selected accepted cases.

What the practice does not do

The practice does not operate a hospital, detox facility, residential program, sober living home, emergency department, mobile crisis unit, or crisis line.

It does not guarantee acceptance, prescribing, home stabilization, family participation, abstinence, relapse prevention, or outcome.

Emergency and crisis limitations

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department for immediate danger, overdose, severe withdrawal, seizure, delirium, chest pain, suicidality, violence risk, or medical instability.

Call or text 988 for mental health or substance-use crisis support.

Medical situations that may require hospital care

Hospital or facility-level care may be required for unstable vital signs, severe alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal risk, delirium, seizures, overdose risk, severe infection, pregnancy-related concerns, psychosis, suicidality, violence risk, unsafe housing, or inability to participate safely in outpatient care.

Controlled-substance prescribing boundaries

Controlled-substance prescribing is never automatic. It depends on diagnosis, clinical appropriateness, patient safety, applicable federal and state law, monitoring capacity, medication history, and the physician’s judgment.

Telehealth and state-law limitations

Telehealth and in-person care are governed by the patient’s location, licensure, controlled-substance rules, privacy requirements, and any state-specific limitations.

Being licensed in a state does not mean every requested service is available everywhere in that state.

Nursing and local-service limitations

Nursing, laboratory, pharmacy, emergency backup, and other local services depend on availability, licensing, scope of practice, and clinical fit.

Local services are not implied unless specifically arranged and appropriate.

Privacy and confidentiality

Records are handled under HIPAA and, when applicable, 42 CFR Part 2 protections for substance-use disorder records.

The practice does not identify patients or prospective patients publicly without specific written authorization.

No guarantees

No website page, consultation, or engagement guarantees a clinical outcome. Addiction and recovery care involve medical risk, patient agency, family dynamics, and changing clinical information.

How to begin appropriately

Begin with the consultation process described on the practice page. Do not include clinical details in an initial text inquiry. If the matter is urgent or emergent, use 911, the nearest emergency department, or 988 as appropriate.

About Edward Ratush, MD

Edward Ratush, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist and addiction medicine physician. Ratush Recovery is his concierge recovery medicine practice for selected patients and families when the proposed work is medically, legally, and logistically appropriate. Learn more on the physician profile, review selected media and commentary, read the writing index, or review the clinical scope and limitations.