HHS Designs Action Plan to Address Overprescribing of SSRIs

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently launched a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Action Plan designed to confront what officials describe as a national crisis of psychiatric overprescribing, specifically for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Announced by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a summit on mental health and overmedicalization for HHS, the initiative represents a significant shift in federal policy toward promoting appropriate prescribing and clinical deprescribing.^1,2

For pharmacists on the front lines of medication management, this plan signals a transition toward a model of care that prioritizes informed consent, shared decision-making, and the regular reassessment of long-term psychotropic regimens.

“It is a good idea,” Perry Cohen, CEO of The TPG Family of Companies, said in an interview. “It is always good to have policies for appropriate drug use.”

What Came From the MAHA Summit

Under the new action plan, HHS agencies are aligning to evaluate prescription patterns and elevate nonmedication treatments such as psychotherapy, nutrition, and physical activity. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has already released guidance for practitioners detailing how they can be reimbursed for deprescribing care, directing clinicians to utilize peer-reviewed protocols and FDA-approved tapering schedules. This federal push is supported by upcoming educational efforts from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which will include webinars and reports on prescribing trends and the side effects of psychiatric medications.²

The urgency of this shift was highlighted at the MAHA Institute summit, where Cooper Davis, executive director at Inner Compass Initiative, noted that nearly 65 million Americans—including 4 million children—are currently taking some form of psychiatric drug. Expert testimony and lived-experience panels described a prescription cascade, where adverse effects from one medication are often misinterpreted as new diagnoses, leading to the addition of more drugs.¹

“Chronic use of SSRIs for some patients is an effective treatment, but SSRIs can be overused by primary care physicians,” Cohen said. “Long term use of SSRIs should be re-evaluated with each patient every 6 months.”

At the summit, panelists discuss the phenomenon of physiological dependence and the resulting withdrawal symptoms that can occur when stopping these medications. Many patients reported that rapid tapers directed by their providers led to severe neurological crises, which were then misidentified as relapses of their underlying conditions.¹

Mark Horowitz, PhD, explained that traditional linear tapers are often biologically mismatched to how these drugs affect the brain. He advocated for hyperbolic tapering, a method where dose reductions become progressively smaller to align with how receptors in the brain respond to the drug, thereby avoiding the cliff effect of abrupt cessation.

Initiatives Beyond the Summit

The clinical community is also beginning to formalize these processes through new consensus guidelines. A task force of 45 experts from the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology recently reached a near-unanimous agreement that all psychopharmacology regimens should undergo a formal review at least annually to ensure the benefits continue to outweigh the risks.³

Their consensus statement emphasizes that deprescribing should be considered if there is a lack of efficacy or if treatment goals have been reached and long-term relapse prevention is not the primary objective. They also noted that clinicians must be vigilant for drug-drug interactions when a psychotropic substrate is eliminated, a task where pharmacist consultation is deemed essential.

Cohen added that the deprescribing of SSRIs would also increase the need for patients to visit a mental health professional.

Special considerations are also being raised regarding the use of SSRIs in specific populations, such as pregnant women. Recent FDA panels have debated the balance of risks, noting that although untreated depression carries significant dangers like suicide or relapse, SSRIs have been implicated in potential neonatal adaptation syndrome and other downstream cognitive effects for the infant.

Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, PhD, observed that the nation may be "losing the broader battle of addressing mental health" by relying so heavily on these interventions without a full understanding of their physiological interactions.⁴

READ MORE: Mental and Behavioral Health Resource Center

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REFERENCES

1. MAHA Institute. Mental Health & Overmedicalization Summit (Part 1). YouTube. May 4, 2026. Accessed May 12, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJC8cYfSsTM

2. HHS Launches MAHA Action Plan to Curb Psychiatric Overprescribing. News release. HHS. May 4, 2026. Accessed May 12, 2026. https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-launches-maha-action-plan-curb-psychiatric-overprescribing.html

3. Goldberg JF, McIntyre RS, Swartz HA, et al. Recommendations for the Deprescribing of Psychotropic Medications: A Consensus Statement From the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology Task Force. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(2):e260043. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.0043

4. Gallagher A. FDA Panel Weighs Risks, Benefits of SSRI Use During Pregnancy. Drug Topics. July 24, 2025. Accessed May 12, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/fda-panel-weighs-risks-benefits-of-ssri-use-during-pregnancy