<p>I believe it is an open issue as to what the doctor has to say to support the need for the comfort animal. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health believes it is sufficient for the physician to state, in a cursory fashion, that the person has a disability as defined by federal law (without specifying what the disability is) and that the physician believes the comfort animal may alleviate at least one symptom of the disability (without specifying the symptom). (I haven’t studied this enough to evaluate the reasonableness of the Bazelon Center’s position on the law). </p>