Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A recent executive order has sparked widespread attention to the availability of treatment for attention deficit ADHD, a disease that affects 22 million Americans. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, entitled “Building the President’s Committee to Make America Health Again”, fought life expectancy with chronic illness.
However, the recent wave of anxiety about ADHD drugs has largely stemmed from the executive order calling for the upcoming Maha committee to propose a report on children’s health reports “evaluation”[ing] The prestige and threat of prescriptions for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants and weight loss medications. “Stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin are commonly used to treat ADHD in adults and children, as well as behavioral treatments. This attack on ADHD drugs has been in the nationwide Adderall shortage for more than two years, which has made the drug Especially difficult.
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The language used in the executive order is Max Wiznitzer, MD, Max Wiznitzer, a pediatric neurologist at Rainbow Babies & Children Hospital in Cleveland, and co-chair of Chadd’s Professional Advisory Board (attention deficit/multi-activity disorder in children and adults). “When they use the term ‘threat’ it automatically implies something is wrong with this treatment, ignoring scientific evidence about the utility of drug use and combining it with multimodal ADHD target management,” he told Rolling stones.
Positioning ADHD drugs as a “threat” is consistent with Kennedy’s previous comments on the treatment of the “Healthy Farm” program, where “addicts” take illegal and legal drugs (including Adderall) may grow and eat organic foods, learn trade and “learn reallocate.”
So, do parents of children with ADHD and adults with this condition need to worry? Does Kennedy actually have the right to deprive or restrict people of their medications? Rolling stones Talked with medical and legal experts to understand what Kennedy did and what he did not do, and why the federal government’s news about ADHD drugs was both stigmatizing and dangerous.
What is the executive order’s comment on ADHD medication?
The Maha Commission Executive Order focuses on the use of stimuli to treat children with ADHD. First, claiming that the “health burden” of chronic diseases in children (including allergies, asthma and fatty liver disease) “continues to increase as medication prescriptions increase.” The example provided is ADHD: Specifically, 3.4 million children are currently taking Drugs for the disease. The figure comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Research Center in 2024, which also shows that 3.4 million children are taking ADHD medications, accounting for 53.6% of children diagnosed.
Later, the executive order stipulated that there was 100 days with the Maha Commission, which was helmed by Kennedy, to submit a report to evaluate stimulants and other mental health drugs used to treat ADHD, including mood stabilizers and Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIS).
“At present, the White House is only calling for evaluation of how these drugs are managed and their impact on patients,” said Ana Santos Rutschman, a law professor at Villanova University. The findings will not be legally binding. In other words, the “executive order” “will not and cannot change the law nor the FDA’s approval of any drug,” said Elizabeth Y. McCuskey, professor of health law policy and administration at Boston University. “Congress sets the process for this.”
Wiznitzer said the dangerous part of the executive order is that the report is likely to be based on opinions, inaccurate facts and preconceived ideas rather than science. When using the word ‘threat’ [in relation to ADHD medications]worryingly, they won’t look at this objectively, but they have a preset agenda to address – this is not a scientific approach. “He said. “The scientific method is to ask a question in a fair way and then investigate that question to come up with an answer. “It’s problematic because the committee’s report “is almost certainly a policy basis for several agencies and then taking steps to make changes,” Rutschman told Rolling stones.
Additionally, even if the Maha Commission’s experts were appointed with the proper training and expertise, Kennedy remained the head. “To put the secretary of zero epidemiology, medicine or science training or expertise in researching and explaining data mountain itself is a reason for concern,” McKusky said. And if Kennedy says ADHD is not medically Necessarily, that could create conflict between the federal government and medical professionals and “make it a more chaotic environment for patients,” Richard Pan, MD, a drug and former Democratic MP.
Does Kennedy have the right to ban ADHD medication?
Rutzman said the ban or restriction of the opportunity for any medication currently used to treat ADHD must involve the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is under the Department of Health and Human Services policy led by Kennedy. “These ADHD drugs have been approved by the FDA and the law must determine that the drug is safe and effective before the company sells the drug,” she said. “Equally, under the law, the FDA can withdraw approval or limit distributions if new evidence suggests approval Drugs are not safe or effective. “Therefore, prohibiting or restricting access to these drugs will require data that raise concerns about specific ADHD drugs based on data, requiring some kind of FDA-initiated decision.
According to Rutschman, the Maha Commission’s report itself does not have enough data sources. Instead, this requires several studies reflecting the current “scientific consensus” that suggests that specific ADHD drugs are causing problems or are not effective. “If the FDA makes a decision that does not reflect consensus, then that decision could be challenged in court,” she said. Additionally, as McCuskey noted, the FDA must go through a review process and consider the evidence, and then Revoke the approved drug or impose stricter prescription or distribution requirements.
McCuskey said using FDA alone can apply additional basketball or conditions to distribute approved medications. One example is the restriction on the abortion drug mifepristone when the FDA established and later deleted, requiring patients to take pills in their doctor’s office. But Kennedy can’t simply order the FDA to implement restrictions on ADHD medications: The FDA still has to go through these processes and produce the required reason for these restrictions defined by Congress.
“The secretary can definitely and does affect the FDA’s behavior and the conduct of the investigation, but he can’t decide that,” McKuski said. “There are reasons to attract attention, but the administrative procedures conducted by Congress and the challenges in court.” It aims to brake on the measures that any political appointee can take against approved drugs.”
How does this also affect people taking ADHD medications?
Even if nothing comes from an executive order, it is based on unfounded opinions rather than scientific facts, and it is also hurting itself. “When executing commands is ambiguous rather than based on science, it causes real damage because it destroys what has been determined to be true: just like the existence of ADHD, for individuals, communities, countries and their performance and their performance Has had a profound impact [and] Craig Surman, MD, MD, director of the Clinical and Research Program of Adult ADHD at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Similarly, Surman’s concern is that people can get reliable sources of scientific medical information so that they can make informed decisions about their health and the health of their children. “I think it’s especially worrying when people already have a big obstacle to getting good information is sowing any kind of distrust or confusion,” he told him. Rolling stones. “For example, there is a lot of misinformation about Tiktok’s ADHD and I hope the government can support entities that convey scientific information because otherwise it’s just speculation and storytelling and people won’t get the treatment they need. Transparent
Impressing ADHD drugs are a “threat” and have also negatively impacted many people’s life-changing treatments. “After we get all the positive feedback, to stigmatize someone’s drugs, years of research has shown us the benefits these drugs can do for people, and I think it really ignores science,” he said. Wiznitzer said, adding that questions about the effectiveness of ADHD medications also cause harm to people with developmental disabilities who may not be able to learn how to manage the condition successfully without the medication.
If stimulants are restricted, Surman is concerned that adults prescribed ADHD medications can start using alcohol, other substances or “street” Adderall self-treatment, which may be fake and contains fentanyl. “It is very important for people who are approved by the FDA to continue to operate,” he said.
So, what does this mean for people with ADHD? “Now, I’ll say don’t panic,” Pan said. “Ho medications may not be very productive. It’s impossible to suddenly not have approved medications, or your health plan will say, “Oh, by the way, we don’t have ADHD medications covered. ”
Even so, Wiznitzer said it is important to consider the impact that stigmatized ADHD medications may have on the 22 million Americans who suffer from this condition, as well as families and society as a whole. “We know what happens when you can’t properly manage ADHD,” he said. “There is a greater risk of negative impact on people’s health, shorter life expectancy, increased suicide rates and increased chances of risk-taking behaviors, Including the use of substances. These are things that are not recognized by the Executive Order.”
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