The Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Tennessee (CCHR Tennessee) today urged Tennessee lawmakers to oppose SB2570/HB2315, legislation that would grant psychologists authority to prescribe powerful psychotropic drugs despite the state’s ongoing crisis of overmedication and lack of oversight.
Tennessee does not suffer from a lack of access to psychiatric drugs—rates of psychotropic drug use are already alarmingly high: 1 in 3 foster children,1 1 in 4 adults,2 1 in 12 school-age children,3 and an estimated 11,000 babies and toddlers4 are currently prescribed these medications. At the same time, teen suicide rates have skyrocketed and youth mental health outcomes have worsened.5
“Expanding prescribing privileges to non-medical professionals while the current system operates with virtually no accountability is reckless and dangerous,” said Kalee Madorin, Executive Director of CCHR Tennessee. “Physicians with years of medical training are already overprescribing drugs that carry the FDA’s most serious black box warnings, including increased suicide risk in children and adolescents. Adding prescribers with far less medical training will only compound the problem.”
Key concerns with SB2570/HB2315 include:
- Granting prescribing authority to psychologists who have no medical school training, no clinical residency in pharmacology, and no hands-on experience managing adverse drug reactions or identifying underlying medical conditions.
- No requirements for monitoring prescribing patterns, tracking patient outcomes, reporting polypharmacy, or evaluating correlations between medication rates and suicide.
- No new safeguards for Tennessee’s most vulnerable populations, including foster children (three times more likely to be medicated) and very young children receiving drugs never approved for their age group.
“Over the past decade, Tennessee has repeatedly expanded mental health services and medication access. Yet prescribing rates have soared while youth mental health has deteriorated,” Madorin continued. “We cannot responsibly expand a system that may be contributing to, rather than solving, our youth mental health crisis.”
CCHR Tennessee calls on lawmakers to reject SB2570/HB2315 until the state implements meaningful reforms, including:
- Mandatory bi-annual public reports on prescribing patterns, costs, and outcomes
- Oversight mechanisms such as review boards and required second opinions for children under age 6
- Full informed consent with disclosure of black box warnings and discussion of non-drug alternatives
- Independent investigation into the correlation between rising psychotropic drug use and Tennessee’s suicide crisis
- Comprehensive audit of current high medication rates among foster children and very young children
Until evidence shows measurable improvements—reduced suicide rates, better long-term functioning, and fewer adverse events—Tennessee cannot justify further expansion of psychiatric drug prescribing authority.
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About Citizens Commission on Human Rights Tennessee
CCHR Tennessee is the local chapter of a national mental health watchdog organization dedicated to protecting citizens from abusive psychiatric practices, investigating violations of human rights in the mental health field, and promoting responsible, non-drug alternatives for mental health care. For more information, visit cchrtennessee.
Media Contact:
Kalee Madorin
Executive Director, Citizens Commission on Human Rights Tennessee
Email: info@cchrtennessee.
X: @CCHRTennessee
1 Tennessee Accountability Center, “The Center for State Child Welfare Data – Tennessee Accountability Center Report (May 31 2018),” Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, 2018, accessed December 2025, https://
2 VinZant, Nick. “Pandemic Fuels Rise in Mental Health Prescriptions.” QuoteWizard, 2021. Archived January 29, 2023, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed December 2025. https://
3,4 TennCare reported 82,605 children aged 6-17 on psychotropic drugs. SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education ) reported 967,356 students K-12 in 2022. The statement “1 in 12 grade-school students” is a conservative approximation of 82,605 / 967,356.
- See “Disarm Pharma: TN CHD Provides Comment on Psychotropic Drugs.” Children’s Health Defense, accessed December 5, 2025, https://
tn. /.childrenshealthdefense. org/ disarm- pharma/ tn- chd- provides- comment- on- psychotropic- drugs - See CCHR Nashville, “Tennessee Children on Psychotropic Drugs 2013‑2021,” accessed December 2025, https://
cchrtennessee. /org/ tennessee- children- on- psychotropic- drugs- 2013- 2021 - See “K‑12 By the Numbers.” TNScore, Tennessee Department of Education, accessed December, 2025, https://
tnscore. .org/ resources/ k- 12- by- the- numbers
5 Tennessee Department of Health. Suicide Prevention in Tennessee: 2025 Annual Report Infographic, 2025, accessed February 2026. https://
