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Psychiatrists have joined other public health groups in calling for the removal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.

Committee to Protect Public Mental Health

 — have released statements saying that the actions of the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services have increased stigma, instilled fear and hurt access to mental health and addiction care.

"As physicians committed to evidence-based care, we are alarmed by the direction of HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr," the Committee to Protect Public Mental Health 

"Secretary Kennedy remains firmly committed to delivering on President Trump's promise to Make America Healthy Again by dismantling the failed status quo, restoring public trust in health institutions, and ensuring the transparency, accountability, and decision-making power the American people voted for," Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the federal health department, wrote to NPR in an email.

The Southern California Psychiatry Society represents more than a 1,000 clinicians; the Committee to Protect Public Mental Health has just over 50 members. 

In recent years, the federal government had taken a leading role in funding efforts to address serious mental illness and substance use through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administrations (SAMHSA), notes 

, a past-president of the American Psychiatric Association and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.

Those efforts had started to pay off, he adds. "There's been great progress in reducing the number of overdose deaths in the country as a result of these initiatives," he says.

But the firing of staff at SAMHSA earlier this year, and the Health Secretary's efforts to shutter the agency, have hurt those efforts, says Sharfstein, who's also a founding member of the Committee to Protect Public Mental Health.

"RFK Jr. is trying to eliminate the federal agency that is responsible for supporting states and localities with overdose prevention," says 

 a San Diego-based psychiatrist and a member of the Committee to Protect Public Mental Health. "This is exactly opposite of the direction that we need to be going."

Both the organizations are also concerned about the health secretary's attacks on psychiatric medications, including in the Make Our Children Healthy Again strategy, which is also known as The MAHA report

 "specifically misrepresents the data on psychotropic medications, really ignoring the full body of the scientific literature," says 

, co-chair of the Southern California Psychiatric Association. "And it is calling for various ways to limit access to psychiatric medications, which is extremely disturbing as these are medications that are critical for many individuals with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, ADHD and many disorders."

"This misrepresentation increases stigma, spreads fear, and can keep people from reaching out for help when they need it most," 

by the Southern California Psychiatric Association. "The report uses these inaccurate statements as a basis for taking action to restrict access to critical services that ease suffering, restore functioning, and prevent suicide."

Dr. Sharfstein says he's also concerned about the impact of cuts to Medicaid on people with Serious Mental Illness (SMIs), which includes conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 6% of American adults live with an SMI. Given the debilitating nature of SMIs, patients tend to be poor, explains Sharfstein.

"They can't afford the medications," he says, "And Medicaid is what they rely on. But it's not just medications. It's outpatient treatment. It's access to acute inpatient care."

As cuts to Medicaid roll out, access to care for mental illness and addiction will get increasingly "compromised," says Sharfstein. "And we'll see a kind of rolling crisis occur."

His group is calling on lawmakers to replace Kennedy with someone trained in public health and evidence-based care. "To protect patients, safeguard scientific integrity, and restore public trust, we join our colleagues in calling on the President to remove Secretary Kennedy and appoint a qualified, evidence-driven leader without delay," according to the statement.

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Rhitu Chatterjee

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Two groups are calling for new leadership at HHS after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s actions on substance abuse treatment and mental health medications, among other issues.

Psychiatrists call for RFK Jr. to be replaced as health secretary

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