Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) became upset that President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once suggested antidepressant Big Pharma drugs may be connected to school shootings.
Citing 2023 and 2024 interviews featuring RFK during Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing, Smith read a quote where Kennedy once noted school children didn’t start shooting up schools until drugs such as Prozac were introduced to the masses.
She asked, “So, do you believe that antidepressants cause school shootings?”
Kennedy responded, “I don’t think anybody can answer that question, and I didn’t answer that question. I said it should be studied along with other potential culprits like social media…”
Senator Smith claimed, “The science shows that there is no link between school shootings and antidepressants, and in fact most school shooters were not even treated with antidepressants. And, of those that were, there was no evidence of association.”
“I don’t think you can say that Senator, because with HIPAA rules nobody knows,” RFK answered, referring to the fact that health privacy laws prevent the public from learning what medications school shooting suspects were prescribed.
The HHS nominee also pointed out SSRI drugs have suicidal and homicidal warnings on the labels.
Hellbound and Down 