At a Make America Healthy Again Institute summit, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled an initiative to help patients safely taper off commonly used antidepressants, saying the U.S. faces a dependency problem driven by overmedicalization. The plan focuses on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro and Paxil. Kennedy said many people begin treatment without a clear understanding of risks, expected duration or how to stop medication, framing that as a failure of informed consent. He has previously argued psychiatric medications are overprescribed and has made contested claims linking them to violence.
The proposal includes provider training, new clinical guidance, publishing prescribing data, and insurance billing changes to support medically supervised tapering and broaden access to nonpharmacologic options. In response, federal agencies signaled complementary steps: the Department of Health and Human Services urged clinicians to review medication risks regularly and practice shared decision-making; SAMHSA plans to issue prescribing data and clinical guidance; and CMS intends to publish billing guidance to facilitate supervised tapers and expand coverage for therapies and family support services.
Psychiatrists and mental health experts welcomed elements of the plan but said Kennedy’s framing oversimplifies a complex problem. The American Psychiatric Association emphasized that psychiatric medications are essential for many people, improving symptoms, functioning and preventing relapse, while also supporting efforts to train clinicians to prescribe and taper safely. Child and adolescent specialists noted existing guidelines stress medical supervision and close monitoring when discontinuing medication and warned that focusing only on side effects misses the substantial benefit these drugs provide for millions of patients.
Suicide-prevention advocates highlighted decades of evidence that judicious antidepressant use treats acute depression and, overall, reduces suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In sum, psychiatrists generally support safer prescribing, better access to comprehensive care, and expanded nonpharmacologic treatments, while cautioning against attributing the nation’s mental health challenges solely to overprescription of psychiatric medications.