1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I'm asking you to oppose HHS Secretary Kennedy's plan to restrict psychiatric medications and push patients toward alternative treatments. Medical decisions belong between patients and their doctors, not federal officials with ideological agendas. Kennedy has repeatedly made false claims about psychiatric medications, linking them to mass shootings and comparing withdrawal to heroin addiction. The FDA has deemed these medications safe and effective for depression, anxiety, and other serious mental health conditions. Depression is the world's leading cause of disability, yet only 40% of Americans with depression receive any treatment at all. US suicide rates rose 35% between 2000 and 2018. This is not a crisis of overmedication. The real problem is access. We face persistent workforce shortages, limited psychiatric beds, and barriers to both medication and therapy. About a third of adults with depression don't respond to conventional treatments and need more options, not fewer. Experts warn that stigmatizing these medications will prevent people from seeking lifesaving care. Patients who need psychiatric medications should be able to access them without federal interference. Protect the doctor-patient relationship and reject Kennedy's plan to impose his personal views on mental healthcare.