Dr. Drew talks RFK Jr.’s initiative to boost deprescribing antidepressants | CUOMO

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:02]One in six of us takes an SSR, SSRI, an anti-depressant. Zolaf, Prozac, Lexapro.

[00:00:13]Here's what the Trump administration said about the use of those drugs last week.

[00:00:19]>> Psychiatric medications have a role in care, but we will no longer treat them as the default. We will treat them as one option used when appropriate with full transparency and with a clear path off when they are no longer effective.

[00:00:37]Let me be clear. If you are taking psychiatric medication, we're not telling you to stop. We're making sure that you and your clinician have the information and support to make the right decisions for you.

[00:00:51]I I got to tell you, I don't get it. I don't get it. They should be working on the prices and they should be working on what's going on to break up these companies that are choking us. Healthc care is choking us. Why mess with anti-depressants? Since when is this a problem? Reuters reported that HHS actually looked into whether they can ban these drugs entirely. Social media went crazy. Pun intended. Millions and millions of us. I take an SSRI. It has absolutely benefited me in my life. There is no question. Is it the only thing I do? Of course not. Of course not. But people got very very upset about it and for good reason. So let's discuss. Dr. Drew Pinsky joins us now. Uh I got to tell you a lot of things they could be focused on that would matter a lot more and that government has a lot more of a place than this.

[00:01:51]I I don't disagree with you, but I I you know, we can either talk about the other places that they should be putting their energy or we can talk about this and the fact is >> let's talk about this.

[00:02:01]>> Yeah. To say that the SSRI and other psychotrope medications is something that people should be doing in a time limited basis and people should be discussing full profile of risk associated with these medications and their withdrawal and that doctors and patients should make these decisions together. That's all I heard him say.

[00:02:19]But we we do something really interesting in this country.

[00:02:22]>> That's not all he said.

[00:02:23]>> We both overprescribe and underprescribe. The pharmacy community in this in this country have started a movement called deprescribing. They've been doing it for years. They have been leading the charge on this phenomenon because they have been ringing the bell that doctors stick people on these medicines and then sort of leave them on them and other medicines too indefinitely.

[00:02:46]>> Yeah, I'm with you, Drew. I mean, you got to work with your doctor. Doctors have to be responsible. Sometimes they're not. But I got to tell you, they say they're going to deal with helping people get drugs. They pick OMIC and like a handful of those GLP1 drugs as if that's the priority in this country. And now they're going to say, "Oh, yeah, and we want to make sure that anti-depressants aren't being abused."

[00:03:08]That's not the problem in our society.

[00:03:10]If anything, you know, you say overs subscribe and undersubscribe uh prescribe. You know, in truth, the underprescribing has been a problem. Uh we have spiked suicidality in this country before by pretending to be Tom Cruz. You know, >> you know, sort of bleeding over towards what else we should be worried about in our health care system. The reality is that doctors are are absolutely um incited to open their pad, write a prescription, and get the patient on their way. when in fact psychotherrapeutic endeavors, mutual aid societies, exercise programs, there are many many other things that should be supported in our health care system that just are not. And that is a travesty. And yes, the prescribing can be very important in the meantime. You know, you mentioned the cost. Most of these are generic drugs now. The vast vast majority are pennies. They don't cost a lot of money.

[00:04:05]So there's nobody benefiting from this.

[00:04:07]So it's not as though there's some evil force from pharma force though they bring out new meds all the time and psychiatry is uncanny in their willingness to go and grab for the newest medicine. I ran I was worked in a psychiatric hospital for 30 years and 10 of those years I worked running their medical services and all I did for 10 years was clean up the mess the medical consequences of psychotropic medication.

[00:04:29]So I'm very familiar with how this can go bad. By the same token, I've seen catastrophes where people are rescued by these medicines. So, there's a proper balance to be achieved here and I think we've gone too far towards the prescribing for a little while.

[00:04:46]>> Dr. Drew, I appreciate you. Thank you for giving us your perspective on it.

[00:04:49]>> You're right.

[00:04:49]>> Uh, as always, by the way, I love your perspective on everything.

[00:04:53]>> Dr. Drew Pinsky, I'll talk to you again soon. Thank you for watching. Subscribe below and download our NewsNation app right now on your phone and you will get fact-based, unbiased news for all Americans.