{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=730", "Reps. Balint, Salinas Lead Lawmakers Demanding Answers from HHS on Reported Plan to \u201cDeprescribe\u201d Psychiatric Medications", "2026-05-19", "2026", "2026-05", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Becca Balint", "B001318", "balint.house.gov", "balint", "https://balint.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Representatives Becca Balint (VT-AL) and Andrea Salinas (OR-06), led a group of 14 lawmakers in sending a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), expressing opposition to the agency\u2019s reported plans to promote the \u201cdeprescribing\u201d of psychiatric medications.\n\nThe lawmakers warn that Secretary Kennedy\u2019s campaign to \u201cdeprescribe\u201d psychiatric medications undermines access to evidence-based mental health care for patients who rely on psychiatric medications. They urge the administration to ensure that any guidance remains grounded in science and centered on patient safety.\n\n\u201cSecretary Kennedy\u2019s attacks on psychiatric medications are dangerous and wrong,\" said Rep. Balint. \"Mental health care is health care. People deserve access to treatment that\u2019s grounded in science and guided by their doctors - not by the Secretary\u2019s personal opinions, politics, stigma, or misinformation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe decision for a patient to stop taking an SSRI should be between the patient and their doctor. End of story,\u201d said Rep. Salinas, Co-Chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus. \u201cSSRIs and other psychiatric medications are life-sustaining care for millions of Americans, and any federal guidance on mental health treatment must be rooted in science, not stigma, ideology, or one man\u2019s personal experience. Secretary Kennedy\u2019s approach risks confusing patients, undermining trust in public health, and disrupting care for people who need support. HHS must clarify its plans, protect access to evidence-based treatment, and ensure these deeply personal decisions remain between patients and their doctors.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe write with serious concern and vehement opposition to your stated intent to promote \u2018deprescribing\u2019 of psychiatric medications to reduce what you have mischaracterized as an overuse of antidepressants,\u201d the letter states.\n\nThey emphasized that psychiatric medications, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro, are some of the leading treatments for depression and anxiety and are approved for psychological treatment by leading medical organizations.\n\n\u201cPsychiatric medications like antidepressants and other evidence-based treatments are, for many Americans, not \u2018optional interventions.\u2019 These treatments are essential, life-sustaining care,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nThe letter challenges recent public statements Sec. Kennedy has made that encourage medication tapering, which undermines trust in public health guidance and can harm patients\u2019 health and safety. Efforts to \u201cdeprescribe\" psychiatric medicines creates confusion among patients, increases stigma around mental health, and disrupts treatment that is critical for those with mental and behavioral health issues.\n\n\u201cThese are unequivocally false and destructive claims, and they undermine trust in our nation\u2019s public health institutions,\u201d the letter states.\n\n\u201cEncouraging Americans to \u2018deprescribe\u2019 risks patients abruptly stopping their medication, which can cause relapse, withdrawal complications, or increased suicide risk,\u201d they wrote.\n\nThe members urged HHS to focus on reforming structural challenges in mental health care to improve treatment access, instead of oversimplifying our nation\u2019s mental health crisis by solely emphasizing medication reduction.\n\n\u201cThe Health and Human Services Department should focus on the systemic drivers of our nation\u2019s mental health crisis, which are persistent barriers to care, workforce shortages, and unaffordable access to comprehensive treatment,\u201d the letter reads.\n\nLawmakers asked HHS to detail safeguards for patients, including protections against inappropriate pressure to discontinue treatment and assurances that clinical decisions remain between patients and providers.\n\nThey concluded by calling for transparency and collaboration with clinicians, patients, and Congress to ensure continued access to mental health care.\n\n\u201cI urge the administration to clarify its approach and work with clinicians, patients, and Congress to ensure that all Americans have access to the mental health care that they need,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nRepresentatives Balint and Salinas were joined by signers Representatives Beyer (VA-08), Cleaver (MO-05), Elfreth (MD-03), Garcia (CA-42), Goldman (NY-10), Kelly (IL-02), Moulton (MA-06), Ramirez (IL-03), Thanedar (MI-13), Tlaib (MI-12), Tonko(NY-20), Underwood (IL-14), Velazquez (NY-07), Watson Coleman (NY-12).\n\nThe full text of the letter can be viewed here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-05-20T06:27:31Z", "2026-05-20T06:28:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=730"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0445439256727695, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}