RF Kennedy (left), Robin Westman (AP)
US health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching formal studies into whether psychiatric medications – particularly SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) – and other drugs associated with gender transition could be linked to violent behavior, reported News3.The announcement came during an interview on Fox News following a tragic school shooting in Minnesota this week, where a 23-year-old shooter identified as transgender and left behind a manifesto describing years of depression and suicidal ideation.“We are doing those kinds of studies now,” Kennedy told host Brian Kilmeade. “At NIH we’re launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence. You know, many of them on there have black box warnings that warn of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation. We can’t exclude those as a culprit, and those are the kind of studies that we’re doing.”The shooter, Robin Westman, reportedly left a manifesto written in Russian Cyrillic script detailing struggles with gender identity, mental health, and a belief they were terminally ill. “I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years,” Westman wrote, according to The New York Post. While Westman’s prescription history remains unclear, the incident has renewed public scrutiny around psychiatric medications. This is the second case of a transgender individual involved in a school shooting in the past two years.SSRIs like Lexapro and Zoloft – commonly prescribed for depression – are known to carry black box warnings about increased risks of suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior in individuals under 25. According to past NIH studies, these medications, along with Varenicline, have been among the drugs most frequently associated with violence towards others.Kennedy’s remarks suggest the Trump administration’s health agencies are taking a broader look at the psychiatric drug landscape, including medications used in gender transition therapies, though no specific drug or patient group has been directly linked to the Minnesota case.
