ADHD Evaluation and Treatment for Professionals in New York and New Jersey

Lawyers, bankers, engineers, physicians and other professionals often put off an ADHD evaluation for the same few reasons: worry that an employer or licensing board will find out, uncertainty about what bar or license applications ask, and practical questions about drug tests and travel. Those concerns have specific answers in New York and New Jersey, and most of them are less alarming than people expect. This page sets them out with sources, so the decision to get evaluated can be made on facts.

How ADHD can look in a demanding job

A national study of US workers aged 18 to 44, published in 2005, estimated that 4.2% had ADHD. ADHD was associated with an average of 35 days of lost work performance a year. The figure for professional workers was lower, about 12 days, than for blue-collar workers, about 56 days. One possible reading is that structured, well-supported roles can absorb some symptoms, which may also help explain why capable people reach mid-career before anyone, including themselves, considers ADHD.

Patterns that bring professionals in tend to be practical: long hours spent making up for unfinished work, missed details in documents, trouble starting tasks without a deadline, or a role change (a promotion, a move from individual work to managing people) that removes a structure that used to help. These can be signs worth discussing with a clinician. They can also come from sleep loss, stress, anxiety or depression, which is why an evaluation looks at other explanations as well as ADHD. See high-functioning ADHD for more.

Privacy: who can see a diagnosis

• Your employer. Under HIPAA, a health care provider cannot give your employer information about you without your authorization unless another law requires it. HIPAA does not stop an employer from asking you for a doctor's note, but whether to provide one is your decision.
• New York's prescription monitoring registry. Public Health Law 3343-a makes the registry accessible only to practitioners, pharmacists and their designees, requires every access to be recorded, and requires practitioners to consult it before prescribing a Schedule II, III or IV controlled substance.

The New York guide covers this in detail in who can see an ADHD diagnosis and confidential ADHD care for professionals.

License and character-and-fitness questions

Forms change, so read the exact wording of the version you are filing. Confidential help programs exist on both sides of the river: the New York State Bar Association's Lawyer Assistance Program, the New Jersey Lawyers Assistance Program (free and confidential for attorneys, judges, law students and graduates), the Medical Society of the State of New York's Committee for Physician Health, and the Professional Assistance Program of New Jersey for licensed health care professionals. More detail is in ADHD and professional licenses in New York.

Drug tests at work

Under federal Department of Transportation rules, the standard urine panel tests for amphetamine and methamphetamine, and methylphenidate is not one of its analytes. If you test positive for amphetamine while taking a prescribed medication, the employee has to show the medical review officer a legitimate medical explanation, such as a valid prescription. If the officer accepts it, the result is reported to the employer as negative. Private employers outside DOT rules are not bound by that procedure, although many use a medical review officer. Keep pharmacy records handy. The full picture is in ADHD medication and workplace drug tests.

Travel for work

• TSA allows medication in pill form in carry-on and checked bags and says clear labeling helps screening.
• New York Public Health Law 3345 requires a controlled substance to stay in the original container it was dispensed in, except for current use.
• Longer supplies are a prescribing decision. New York allows up to a three-month supply on one prescription for attention deficit disorder; New Jersey allows multiple prescriptions totaling up to 90 days, each with an earliest fill date.
• Video visits with Dr. Shershow have to take place while you are in New York or New Jersey, so plan visits around trips.

See traveling with ADHD medication for international trips.

Where you sit during a visit decides the rules

Dr. Shershow is licensed in New York and New Jersey, and the rules for a visit follow where you are physically located at the time. A New Jersey resident who takes a video visit from a private room at a Manhattan office is a patient located in New York for that visit. From home in New Jersey, New Jersey law applies, including P.L.2026, c.40: adult Schedule II stimulant patients who start by telehealth need an in-person visit within 30 days, a contact every three months, and an in-person visit at least once a year. The office will explain how visits are arranged for patients located in New Jersey. New York had no in-person rule of its own as of October 2026 and follows federal DEA telemedicine flexibilities, which run through December 31, 2026.

For time off, New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act covers getting a medical diagnosis, care or treatment, including for a mental health condition, and New Jersey's Earned Sick Leave law covers care for your own physical or mental illness.

Getting started

Call the office or use the call-back form. The office can explain current fees and how insurance works with the practice. Background on the process is on the adult ADHD evaluation page.