A Message from the Southern California Psychiatric Society
The Southern California Psychiatric Society, representing more than 1000 psychiatrists in the region, calls on the California congressional representatives and senators who represent our members to urge the California congressional delegation and the Senate Mental Health Caucus led by California Senator Alex Padilla to seek removal of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly spread dangerous falsehoods about medical preventative services and treatments.
The deeply flawed Make America Healthy Again report makes false statements regarding the risks and benefits of healthcare interventions, including those important for individuals with psychiatric illness. This misrepresentation increases stigma, spreads fear, and can keep people from reaching out for help when they need it most. 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. Without these critical services, criminalization and expanded use of civil commitment will curtail the ability of individuals with mental illness to lead productive lives.
Because of Secretary Kennedy’s actions, we have lost confidence in his leadership. His disregard for science threatens not only the integrity of our health system but also the lives and civil rights of millions of Americans who rely on effective, evidence-based treatment for psychiatric illness.
The United States needs a Secretary of Health and Human Services who protects public health, relies on accurate data, and upholds the principles of evidence-based medicine. Instead, Secretary Kennedy has chosen to promote ideology over science, misinformation over facts, and fear over care.
For these reasons, the Southern California Psychiatric Society joins the American College of Physicians and other medical experts in urgently calling for his removal. We urge our congressional representatives and senators to call for swift action to ensure that this vital post is filled by a qualified health leader with the training, experience, and integrity required to safeguard the health and well-being of all Americans.