{"id":31788,"date":"2025-08-29T23:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/31788\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T23:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T23:29:10","slug":"after-shooting-rfk-jr-says-hhs-will-study-psychiatric-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/31788\/","title":{"rendered":"After shooting, RFK Jr. says HHS will study psychiatric drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, said Kennedy should be fired after he suggested antidepressants played a role in the Aug. 27 shooting at Annunciation Catholic School.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/85895534007-20250829-vpc-senator-blasts-rfk-school-shooting-comments-thumb-getty-00-00-00-00-still-0.jpeg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Senator calls for RFK Jr. firing over school shooting comments<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tina Smith demanded HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.&#8217;s firing after his comments linking antidepressants to violence.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cWe need to explain why all this violence is happening and we need to look at every possibility,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/li>\n<li>A 2019 study found most school shooters don\u2019t appear to have been prescribed psychotropic drugs and found no &#8220;causal association.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don\u2019t kill kids, antidepressants do,\u201d Smith wrote to Kennedy on social media.<\/li>\n<li>Two children were killed and 18 people were wounded in the attack at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Health and Human Services Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/politics\/robert-f-kennedy-jr\/\" data-autotag=\"1eef402e-8d6b-4ca9-ae4b-46a1674522c3\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> said in the wake of the Minneapolis school shooting that his agency would study whether antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs \u201cmight be contributing to violence,\u201d prompting a Minnesota senator to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenTinaSmith\/status\/1961061772221149678\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenTinaSmith\/status\/1961061772221149678\" rel=\"nofollow\">accuse him of &#8220;peddling bulls&#8212;.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kennedy, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6377564991112\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6377564991112\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a Fox News interview,<\/a> said HHS is looking at a group of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/life\/health-wellness\/2025\/01\/30\/rfk-jr-antidepressants-ssri-heroin-school-shooters-mental-health\/78048367007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)<\/a> and \u201csome of the other psychiatric drugs.\u201d The Health secretary has long raised concerns about SSRIs and linked them to school shootings.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31513302\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31513302\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2019 study<\/a> found most school shooters don\u2019t appear to have been prescribed psychotropic drugs and \u201cwhen they were, no direct or causal association was found.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">Important: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/life\/health-wellness\/2025\/01\/30\/rfk-jr-antidepressants-ssri-heroin-school-shooters-mental-health\/78048367007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">RFK Jr.&#8217;s misinformation on antidepressants matters. Here&#8217;s what to know.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, said Kennedy is focused on the wrong issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don\u2019t kill kids, antidepressants do,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenTinaSmith\/status\/1961061772221149678\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenTinaSmith\/status\/1961061772221149678\" rel=\"nofollow\"> Smith wrote<\/a> on social media. \u201cJust shut up. Stop peddling bulls&#8212;. You should be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Police say <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2025\/08\/28\/minneapolis-shooting-news-motive-live-updates\/85862268007\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2025\/08\/28\/minneapolis-shooting-news-motive-live-updates\/85862268007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robin Westman, 23, opened fire<\/a> at Annunciation Catholic School, killing two children and injuring 18 people. Westman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/minneapolis-catholic-school-shooting-rcna227591\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/minneapolis-catholic-school-shooting-rcna227591\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrote in a journal<\/a> about suffering from depression and having suicidal and homicidal thoughts, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/08\/28\/us\/journal-minneapolis-shooter-robin-westman-invs\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/08\/28\/us\/journal-minneapolis-shooter-robin-westman-invs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> media reports. <\/a>It\u2019s unclear if Westman was taking any psychiatric drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to explain why all this violence is happening and we need to look at every possibility,\u201d Kennedy said on Fox.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/85891992007.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Minnesota Senator Tina Smith on Annunciation school shooting<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tina Smith urged people to come together after the senseless act of violence that left two children dead and 17 others hurt at a Minneapolis Catholic school on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Fox 9<\/p>\n<p>Democrats, in the wake of yet another shooting, are raising concerns about access to guns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are 400 million guns in this country,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenTinaSmith\/status\/1961061774767075744\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenTinaSmith\/status\/1961061774767075744\" rel=\"nofollow\"> Smith wrote<\/a> on social media. \u201cMore guns than people. In America, we are ten times more likely to be shot in a school or playground than any other developed nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy said during an Aug. 28 news conference in Texas that &#8220;people have had guns in this country forever.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Something changed, and it dramatically changed human behavior, and one of the culprits we need to examine is whether the fact that we are the most over-medicated nation in the world,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Some conservatives have also focused on Westman\u2019s gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>Westman\u2019s name was legally changed to Robin because \u201cminor child identifies as female,\u201d a judge wrote, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c4g0lyny7ydo\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c4g0lyny7ydo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">media reports. <\/a>Kennedy\u2019s Fox News comments were prompted by questions about Westman\u2019s transition process from male to female.<\/p>\n<p>Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/clip\/news-conference\/minneapolis-mayor-jacob-frey-on-villainizing-trans-community\/5170637\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/clip\/news-conference\/minneapolis-mayor-jacob-frey-on-villainizing-trans-community\/5170637\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said at a news conference<\/a> that \u201canybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/85872774007-reuters-ch-1-1-00-pm-keeping-communities-safe-simple-steps-to-curb-violence-0828202513-5.jpeg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Minnesota politicians push for gun reform after church shooting<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota leaders, including Rep. Ilhan Omar and Mayor Jacob Frey, called for swift gun reforms after the deadly Minneapolis church shooting.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy is a longtime vaccine skeptic whose views on several health matters are considered fringe by mainstream experts. His tenure as the nation&#8217;s top health official has been tumultuous. He has sought to oust Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/health\/2025\/08\/28\/trump-firing-cdc-director-monarez-raises-questions\/85864348007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Susan Monarez<\/a> amid a policy disagreement, but she is refusing to step down.<\/p>\n<p>Monarez&#8217;s contested ouster, less than one month after the Senate confirmed her to the role, prompted the resignations of three other top CDC officials in protest of Kennedy&#8217;s leadership, including his direction on vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>Contributing: Ben Adler, Joey Garrison<\/p>\n<p>(This story has been updated to add new information.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, said Kennedy should be fired after he suggested antidepressants played a role in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[725,829,24970,16139,23077,24984,841,24974,9413,13568,24975,16142,3071,14163,164,685,718,733,18,24965,24977,24988,4080,9702,24985,24972,24982,23704,135,3293,19,17,24966,9122,3255,24971,462,719,7839,167,23477,6878,24967,714,5,2034,713,731,24976,237,790,24964,14162,13267,24980,24969,24978,24990,827,1220,24968,24979,7936,24973,24983,3070,24981,716,1302,24986,24987,23951,24989,819],"class_list":{"0":"post-31788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-abuse","9":"tag-and","10":"tag-bill","11":"tag-bill-maher","12":"tag-centers","13":"tag-centers-for-disease-control","14":"tag-content","15":"tag-control","16":"tag-death","17":"tag-death-u0026-tragedy","18":"tag-democratic","19":"tag-democratic-party","20":"tag-department","21":"tag-department-of-health-and-human-services","22":"tag-depression","23":"tag-disease","24":"tag-drugs","25":"tag-drugs-u0026-medications","26":"tag-eire","27":"tag-f","28":"tag-firearms","29":"tag-firearms-u0026-weapons","30":"tag-for","31":"tag-fox","32":"tag-fox-news","33":"tag-gun","34":"tag-gun-violence","35":"tag-guns","36":"tag-health","37":"tag-human","38":"tag-ie","39":"tag-ireland","40":"tag-jr","41":"tag-kennedy","42":"tag-life","43":"tag-maher","44":"tag-medication","45":"tag-medications","46":"tag-mental","47":"tag-mental-health","48":"tag-minneapolis","49":"tag-minnesota","50":"tag-mn","51":"tag-negative","52":"tag-news","53":"tag-of","54":"tag-overall","55":"tag-overall-negative","56":"tag-party","57":"tag-people","58":"tag-politics","59":"tag-robert","60":"tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","61":"tag-school","62":"tag-school-shootings","63":"tag-senate","64":"tag-sensitive","65":"tag-sensitive-subjects","66":"tag-services","67":"tag-sharing","68":"tag-shootings","69":"tag-subjects","70":"tag-tragedy","71":"tag-transgender","72":"tag-transgender-people","73":"tag-u-s","74":"tag-u-s-senate","75":"tag-u0026","76":"tag-usat","77":"tag-usat-content-sharing-life","78":"tag-usat-content-sharing-news","79":"tag-violence","80":"tag-violence-u0026-abuse","81":"tag-weapons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}