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The Tennessee Conservative [By David Seal] –
According to Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), Tennessee Chapter, 11,453 infants and toddlers in Tennessee are taking psychotropic drugs. Proposed legislation may increase this and other demographics in our population who receive such drugs.
Stand for Health Freedom describes the use of such drugs as “an epidemic of overprescribing and over medication.”
In the state of Tennessee, over 25% of adults and about 32% of foster children, and just under 10% of children in general are prescribed psychotropic drugs. These statistics may dramatically increase if a proposed law is passed that would permit specially trained psychologists to prescribe psychotropic drugs.
CCHR asserts that psychotropic drugs are being overprescribed for all age groups, especially infants. The overprescription chart in this article demonstrates the numbers and approximate percentages. This prescription making frenzy may be accelerated by the growing field of infant psychology.
Seven states have already tried psychologist prescribing authority for psychotropic drugs. According to CCHR, those seven states report some of the worst mental health outcomes in the nation. Data indicate high readmission rates to mental health facilities and dramatic increases in mental illness.
The seven-state report is linked below, which states in part, “The data below raises serious questions about whether RxP legislation delivers on its promise to improve mental health outcomes.”
Seven State Mental Health Analysis Report
Adding to the concerns of parents, certain public schools have started the practice of having parents sign a “Blanket Medical Consent Form,” a form that may not be obvious to a parent that consent for medical treatment is being granted. For background on the blanket consent forms and statutory citations, our coverage is linked below in a 2024 news article.
New Parental Rights Law Leads To Additional School Medical Consent Forms | Tennessee Conservative
This parent concern is coupled with the fact that certain public schools in Tennessee now have in-house third-party behavioral health practitioners that are licensed psychologists, many of which operate on the acquisition of grant money that is provided by state and federal authorities for at-risk or traumatized populations. The common term for such demographics is “ACE”s (Adverse Childhood Experiences). The more ACE documentation, the more money for behavioral health practitioners that are imbedded in our public schools.
The legislative effort is grounded in SB2570 / HB2315. The full text of the bill is linked here.
With the lack of informed consent protocols, concern for prescriptions of psychotropic drugs to minors, and inadequate monitoring, the following commentary was provided for this news report.
“Tennessee currently lacks fundamental safeguards for psychiatric medication oversight—we don’t even mandate proper informed consent protocols for drugs that carry FDA black box warnings, nor is there any standard monitoring or tracking of patients placed on these medications. Before we expand prescribing authority to psychologists, we should examine the outcomes in states that have already done so. New Mexico passed this legislation in 2002 and still has suicide rates 50-64% higher than the national average, ranking 4th highest in the nation. Idaho passed their law in 2017 and by 2023 became the 4th highest state for suicide. Iowa’s suicide rate increased 72.9% over 20 years—42.6 percentage points higher than the national increase. Rather than expanding prescribing authority, Tennessee should focus on implementing basic checks and balances, proper informed consent protocols, and systematic monitoring of existing prescribers to protect our children and vulnerable populations.” – said Brittany Ruiz, Director of Policy, CCHR Tennessee
Citizens Commission on Human Rights is opposing the legislation. A link to their full statement is linked here.
Tennessee’s Stand for Health Freedom is also opposing the legislation on multiple fronts.
“The state of Tennessee should be decreasing, not increasing, the number of practitioners that can prescribe drugs that come with a “black box warning” of increased risk of suicide, homicide, violence, and other very serious harms. Proponents of SB 2570 / HB 2315 claim that prescriptive authority to these drugs is necessary in order to help their patients de-prescribe, but there is no language in the bills limiting authority only to de-prescribing a patient. Tennessee already has an epidemic of over-prescription and over-medication. The latest data shows we have 1 in 4 adults, 1 in 12 school-age children, 1 in 3 foster children, and over 11,000 babies and toddlers on psychiatric drugs in our state. We thank CCHR TN for acquiring this data through a public records request. Stand for Health Freedom opposes these bills.” – said Bernadette Pajer, Volunteer Tennessee Director, Stand for Health Freedom
The House Companion bill, HB2315, is on notice for a hearing in the House Health Subcommittee on Wednesday March 11. If you would like to voice your opinion of the bill to that committee, their contact information is as follows.
House Health Subcommittee – HB2315 to be heard Wednesday, March 11
HB2315 creates prescribing authority for certain psychologists if certain conditions and prerequisites are met.
Rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov; rep.ron.gant@capitol.tn.gov; rep.tim.hicks@capitol.tn.gov; rep.timothy.hill@capitol.tn.gov; rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov; rep.sam.mckenzie@capitol.tn.gov; rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov; rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov; rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov
About the Author: David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and past Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a citizen lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level. David is also a 2024 winner of The Tennessee Conservative Flame Award & has received an accolade from the Institute For Justice for successfully lobbing the TN legislature to protect property rights. David can be reached at david@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
