1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I need you to oppose the HHS plan targeting psychiatric medications and push back against Secretary Kennedy's dangerous overreach into medical practice. This initiative will harm people who depend on these medications to function and stay alive. Kennedy himself has said "no one should take health advice from me," yet he's now directing federal policy to discourage treatments the FDA has deemed safe and effective for depression, anxiety, and other serious conditions. His claims linking antidepressants to mass shootings and comparing withdrawal to heroin lack scientific backing. Depression is the world's leading cause of disability, and US suicide rates rose 35% between 2000 and 2018. We cannot afford to stigmatize or restrict access to lifesaving treatments. The real crisis is access, not overprescribing. Only 40% of adults and adolescents with depression receive counseling or therapy. A third of adults with depression don't respond to conventional treatments and need more options, not fewer. If Kennedy wants to address mental health, he should focus on making care affordable, expanding community mental health services, and addressing workforce shortages. Stop this plan before people get hurt. Patients deserve evidence-based medicine, not ideology-driven policy from someone without medical training.