FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jakara Eason
[email protected]
May 6, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC – In a major announcement this week, Secretary Kennedy, who leads the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced that the department will take major new steps to combat “the overuse of psychiatric medications – especially among children.” The initiative advances priorities of the “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA movement. Kennedy framed the initiative – whose announcement was coupled with a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter issued by the heads of key HHS departments to the clinical community – as an effort to promote a more holistic approach to mental health, including through more patient autonomy and shared patient/provider decision-making. He did not single out medical treatments for ADHD, though the Dear Colleague letter made clear that steps will be taken to provide new clinician training around medical interventions for mental health conditions generally, the release of prescribing trend data, and new incentives to support deprescribing of psychiatric medications.
In response to the announcement, Mindful Choices issued the following statement:
Mindful Choices for ADHD – the leading national advocacy organization for the ADHD community – agrees with Secretary Kennedy and the leadership of HHS that the nation faces a serious mental health crisis which impacts patients and families across the age continuum. An emphasis on providing new resources to clinicians for diagnosing and treating mental health conditions like ADHD is a vital step toward ensuring that the right patients receive the right diagnosis and interventions, both medical and non-medical. Our leaders, including some of the nation’s most prestigious clinicians, along with patients and families with lived experience, stand ready to work with the Administration to inform the work that CMS, HRSA and SAMHSA have committed to do to support deprescribing of inappropriate medications, to increase access to objective diagnostic resources to improve accuracy, and to bolster clinician awareness of medical and non-medical tools available to optimize care for people with ADHD.
About Mindful Choices for ADHD
Mindful Choices for ADHD is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association working to ensure that
individuals living with ADHD have access to evidence-based, appropriate, and equitable
treatment. We focus on fostering consensus, countering misinformation, and advancing
practical solutions grounded in science and lived experience. For more information, please
visit choicesforadhd.org.