President Donald Trump is putting mental health medications for kids under a new microscope. Some local parents are concerned about what the increased scrutiny could mean for their kids.
On Thursday, the president issued an executive order ordering the new “Make America Healthy Again” commission to “assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of” certain mental health medications for kids.
These include some antidepressants and anxiety medications (those that are categorized as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs), antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and stimulants.
“Most of these medicines are the most well-studied medicines in pediatrics,” said Ohio pediatrician Dr. Chris Peltier, who works with Pediatric Associates of Mount Carmel and served as the immediate past president of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Peltier said research for stimulants and SSRI’s goes back decades. As far as conducting any new studies, Dr. Peltier said there is “no way” that it could be done in 100 days.
He stressed the medications are generally safe and effective.
“They do have some side effects, every medicine does,” he said, including some that contain an FDA black box warning for possible increased risk of suicidal thoughts.
“The counter to that is, most of the time when I’m starting a child on antidepressants, they’re often to the point where they may have already had thoughts of wanting to hurt themselves,” he said.
In 2021, the CDC reported that 8.2% of children aged 5-17 had taken medication for mental health.
The number of adolescents aged 12-17 who were prescribed antidepressants has spiked in recent years. The rate was up 43% from 2016 to 2022, according to a paper published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Heading the work at the commission is Robert F Kennedy Jr., who has previously sparred with lawmakers over his unsupported claims about mental health medications.
The increased scrutiny of these medications has some local parents worried about what it could mean for accessing these medications for their kids down the line.
“Without access to this medication, my son would die,” Kenmore resident Stephanie Simpson said.
Simpson’s son was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. His symptoms were debilitating.
“He couldn’t attend school. He couldn’t eat,” she said, adding that her son was suicidal.
Medications, she says, have saved his life.
Marysville mom, Christina, shares concerns about the increased scrutiny. Her son has been diagnosed with several mental health disorders, and medications have helped him manage them.
“He’s not anxious all the time,” she said. “He’s a lot happier. He’s not having these intrusive thoughts that he used to have all the time.”
Christina was diagnosed with OCD herself at age 18.
“I didn’t get the help I needed as a teenager,” she said. “I’m looking back and thinking, if I did, would I have done better in school? Would I have had better opportunities?”
The executive order also orders the commission to study the prevalence of and possible risks of weight loss prescriptions for kids too.
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