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NAMI’s Position on Access to Medications

The following statement is summarized from NAMI’s Public Policy Platform:

• NAMI believes that individuals with brain disorders must have access to treatments that have been recognized as effective by the FDA and/or NIH.

• NAMI strongly opposed measures that limit the availability and right of individuals with brain disorders to receive treatment with "new generation" medications.

• As a matter of policy, NAMI does not endorse any particular treatment or medication for brain disorders.

• In addition, current NAMI policy stipulates that decisions regarding specific medications prescribed to persons with severe mental illness should be based on the clinical judgments of treatment providers, not on economic factors. NAMI strongly opposes measures that limit access to treatment with psychotropic medications such as atypical antipsychotics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

In response to the developing threats to access to medications for people with severe mental illness, the NAMI Policy Research Institute’s Access to Medications Task Force was created by the NAMI Board of Directors to examine the available evidence and provide policy guidance on this issue to the NAMI Board, NAMI’s grassroots advocates, and policymakers.

Back to Access to Medication

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When you become a member of NAMI, you become part of America's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness. And now you can join online.