before any prescription
Our safety standard
This is how Brett works, written down so you can read it before you book. It applies to perimenopause, menopause, weight and metabolic health. It is not a promise about results.
A proper assessment
The first appointment is a 40-minute video consult. Brett takes a history: symptoms, medicines, sleep, food, movement, mood, and what you want from care. It is a conversation. It is not a questionnaire that ends in a script, and it is not a form you complete in order to be sent a medicine.
You are welcome to bring a support person. If something needs an examination, or it is urgent, he will say so. Emergencies are not booked: call 000.
Blood tests before treatment
Baseline bloods are requested before a medicine is started, unless recent results already answer the question. Kidneys, liver, blood count and the metabolic markers that change the decision are the usual reasons. You take the request to a laboratory you can get to. The lab bills the test.
There is a draft article on why tests come first. It is general education, waiting for Brett's review. It is not a panel you should order for yourself.
Eating-disorder screening
Before any plan that touches weight or eating, Brett asks about your history with food. That includes restriction, bingeing, purging, and how you feel about your body. A weight-focused plan can be the wrong plan. If that is the case, he will say so and help you find care that fits, which may be a referral rather than a prescription.
Answer honestly. The questions are a safety step. They are not a test you pass in order to be prescribed something.
Structured follow-up
A plan includes a review. Follow-up appointments are 20 minutes, at the fee on the fees page. They are part of the care, not an optional extra and not a subscription. The review is where results are explained, side effects are asked about, and the plan is kept, changed, or stopped.
If reviews are missed, prescribing can be paused until you have been seen again. That is so treatment stays supervised. It is not a penalty.
Deprescribing and stop criteria
If a medicine is part of the plan, Brett names why it was started, what would count as it not helping, and when it should be reduced or ceased. Treatment is not open-ended by default. Stopping well is part of the job, including when the benefit is unclear or the risk has changed.
No single-treatment scripts
Cortex does not write a prescription for one named treatment without the assessment, the baseline, and a plan that can include food, movement, sleep and follow-up. Booking an appointment does not mean a particular medicine will be chosen. If a script is written, it is an eScript for any pharmacy you choose.
With your consent, Brett can write to your GP so your usual care has the same information. You do not need a referral to book.
This page describes a way of working. It does not describe how any medicine works, and it does not promise a result. Clinical decisions are made in the consult, for the person in front of the camera.
If this is the standard you want, book.
The initial consult is the assessment. Read whether Cortex is the right fit if you are unsure about the follow-up.