in Make America Healthy Again campaign, (MAHA) RFK jr is “assess[ing] the prevalence of and threat” of ADHD drugs, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs.”
Does Robert Kennedy JR., the new actually have the power to take away or restrict access to people’s medications? Rolling Stone spoke with medical and legal experts to find out what Kennedy does — and doesn’t — have the authority to do, and why this messaging on ADHD medications from the federal government is both stigmatizing and dangerous.
According to Rolling Stone: “A recent executive order has sparked widespread concern about the availability of medications treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition that affects more than 22 million Americans. Titled “Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission,” the executive order has Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s fingerprints all over it, focusing on several of the pillars of his MAHA campaign, from increasing Americans’ life expectancy to fighting chronic illness
And it’s not just Adderal. The Hill reports: Kennedy has claimed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can be more addictive than heroin, of which he is a longtime recovering addict, and has falsely linked them to school shootings. He avoided denouncing this belief about shootings during his confirmation hearings, only saying, “I don’t think anybody can answer that question.” According to psychiatrists who work with children, rhetoric like that of Kennedy’s does not help children with mental illnesses.
Childhood psychiatrists insist the drugs, for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, are nonaddictive and proven safe and say they are more concerned about young Americans unable to access psychiatric medications that could help. (The Hill)
At Present, the executive order “does not and cannot make a change in law, nor a change in the FDA’s approval of any medications,” says Elizabeth Y. McCuskey, professor of health law policy and management at Boston University. “Congress has set the procedures for that.” (RS)
However, congressional procedures and present laws may not be enough to keep the government from barring our access to needed medications.
