“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,” Kennedy told Fox News in an August 28 interview.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, commonly called SSRIs, are the most prescribed class of antidepressants for depression, anxiety disorders and many other mental health conditions. Several SSRIs have been on the market in the United States since the 1990s, including Prozac, Zoloft and Celexa.

Though journal entries by Robin Westman — the Minneapolis shooter who killed two children and injured 18 others before taking her own life — suggested she experienced mental or emotional distress, it has not been confirmed whether Westman had been taking antidepressants.

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