Shortly after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., swore as a secretary of the Ministry of Health and Human Services, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for a team to study the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics and medicines for obese in children, such as claiming that These medicines, medicines claiming these drugs, medicines claiming these drugs, medicines, claiming these drugs, medicines claiming these drugs, antipsychotics and obesity medicines in children, claiming that these drugs can cause a “threat” to adolescents.
The order called for the formation of the Healthy Healthy American Commission again – to be chaired by Kennedy – in order to understand chronic diseases.
Among the goals of the committee is “an assessment of the spread and the threat represented by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants and weight loss drugs.”
Kennedy is critical of these drugs in the past, lying to the use of antidepressants with school firing.
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In addition, Kennedy focused on improving health and nutrition, with unfounded claims that weight loss drugs are used to treat obesity in very young children and that the epidemic of obesity in the United States can be cured with “good food”.
Psychiatrists and obese experts say ABC News that Kennedy and Trump administration may lack any context in how antidepressants – and other medicines used to treat mental health conditions – and obesity medicines are prescribed.
These experts – together with the American Academy of Children and Youth Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association – said these drugs are safe and effective and are usually combined with other forms of treatment. They also say that each patient should consult their doctor before taking prescribed medicines.
“Because someone who studies pediatric chronic illnesses, I think the intention to focus on chronic childhood diseases and the crisis around them is really good,” Dr. Justin Ryder, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics in the Northwestern Medical School of Feinberg and The Medical School and the Medical School of Feinberg Feinberg and the Fineberg Fineberg Medical School Feinberg Feinberg Feinberg Fainberg School of Feinberg in northwestern Feinberg School in northwestern Feinberg School of Feinberg in northwestern Feinberg School in Northwes in Chicago, told ABC News.
“There are really some things I read in [the order] It gave me some hope, but then there are obviously some things that made me a break and some concern, “he said.
“The focus on medical treatment as a source of exacerbation of chronic diseases, I don’t think it’s really great,” Ryder said, adding that these drugs are useful, not harmful.
Photo: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., US President Candidate Donald Trump as Secretary of Health and Human Services, evidence during his Senate Financing Committee, January 29, 2025 (Earn McNamee/Getty Images)
What do we know about the use of antidepressants in children
A class of antidepressants, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are among the most commonly used to treat children.
Evidence shows that SSRI is effective in treating anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders in children, according to a 2019 study at Yale University.
In addition, there are currently six atypical or second -generation antipsychotics that have been approved by FDA for use in children and adolescents. They are usually considered safe, but come with strict dosage guidance.
“With SSRIS, they are very safe treatments, as well as many of our antipsychotics, so they can have some side effects,” Dr. Joseph Sasin, clinical affairs and professor in the clinical pharmacy and family medicine at the school in school Pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at SCAGS at the University of Colorado told ABC News.
The executive order also mentioned stimulants, which is a class of medicines used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity or ADHD.
“The case of stimulants is a little more different for their approved indication,” Sasin said. “They are considered safe and efficient, but have the potential for addiction and most of them are stimulants, are controlled substances.”
He continued: “In general, everything approved by the FDA is considered safe and effective treatment. None of them is new. Sometimes we get a new type of medicine, but we are not dealing with a new drug class that we are not “I don’t know what to expect.”
Dr. Asim Shah, a professor and executive deputy chairman of psychiatry and behavioral science at the Baylor Medical College in Texas, said the potential for addiction is less likely when people have the right dosages with the right diagnosis.
He added that medicines for mental health conditions undergo stable development, testing, clinical trials and the process of examination before entering the market.
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In addition, before medicines are approved in children, they should usually be shown as first safe and effective in adults, Shah said.
He added that these drugs are usually given to children only after other treatments are first tried.
“When we think about medicines in children, remember that the best treatment for children is medicines plus therapy plus the whole treatment regimen,” Shah told ABC News. “We’re not just talking about giving medicines to children. It doesn’t work alone. There is a whole treatment protocol. Just throwing medication is not the answer.”
Chess and Sasin agreed that using the term “threat” in the execution order could mean that these drugs were dangerous and said that the benefits were not considered.
“I think the use of the word” threat “comes from people who are not in the medical field because it is not a medical term we would use,” Sasin said. “We would use the risk of conditions for benefit.
Photo: In this unintended photo, a man rests on a desk behind a pile of pills. (Stock Photo/Stock by Adobe)
Kennedy and others were also criticized for being claimed to have spread misinformation for antidepressants.
During his hearing to confirm in late January, Kennedy falsely suggested that antidepressants were more difficult to refuse heroin.
“I know people, including members of my family, who have had a much worse time to descend from SSRI than to get off heroin,” Kennedy during the hearing.
Chess and Sasin said there was no evidence to be equal to the termination of the use of antidepressants to discontinue the use of heroin.
“I don’t know any evidence because I don’t think it exists,” Sasin said. “I think these are extremely different diseases. I think this is really demoralizing for patients who have serious mental health disorders, and this is problematic. We already have a problem with stigma, with mental health and language like this. There may be. Good intentions behind you, but the negative effects are really bad.
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In addition, in 2023 live with Elon Musk, Kennedy falsely claimed that there was “huge indirect evidence” that people using antidepressants were more likely to perform school firing.
Chess said there is no evidence to suggest that patients with mental disorders or those who are on disorders are more violent.
“Less than 5% of people who have mental health problems would eventually be violent,” Shah said. “This is a very low number compared to the total population … This is a myth, in other words.”
“Violence can be with anyone,” he added. “The biggest concern about violence in mental health are people who are untreated patients with mental health … So we need to destroy mental illness. We need to treat mental illness effectively. We need to provide free treatment, affordable care. We need to provide. Care of people who are underestimated, uninsured, without any boundaries.
Weight loss medicines combined with other treatments
There are currently six medicines approved by the FDA for the treatment of overweight and obesity: orlistat, Fentermine-Topiramate, Naltrexone-Bupropion, Liraglutide, Semaglutide and Tirzeptide-Zeb.
Four of these drugs have been approved for children 12 years of age and more with five medicines approved for the treatment of children aged 6 years or more who have rare genetic disorders that cause obesity.
Photo: In this unpaid commodity photo, the Wegovy injection pens are accumulated on a table. (Stock Photo/Stock by Adobe)
Kennedy made a baby eating in a cornerstone on his platform, and before that, if the country pays more for quality food, it would solve the obesity crisis for a night.
During his second hearing to confirm last month, Kennedy said that obesity medicines should not be “the first first line intervention for 6-year-old children”, which he claims is the “standard of now” standard.
Ryder said this is not the standard of practice, explaining that these drugs are prescribed in conjunction with proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
“Obesity medicines are not given in a vacuum,” Ryder said. “It’s the same with Bariatric Surgery. They always accompany nutritional advice, behavioral consultation, physical activity tips. This can be very intense.”
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The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that medicines be part of the conversation for overweight children and young teenagers – not the only solution, Ryder said.
“Obesity medicines don’t solve obesity themselves,” he said. “They are an additional tool to help people in their weight loss trip. But they will not make you lose weight unless you do the things you need to do: feeding properly, controlling the size of your portion , obtaining physical activity.
Trump, RFK Jr. go after antidepressants, weight loss medicines. Here’s what science says that originally appeared on abcnews.go.com