What We Know About the Effect of Psychotropic Drugs on Migrant Kids

A federal judge on Monday ruled that the government must obtain parental or guardian consent before administering psychotropic drugs—those that can affect the brain or behavior—to migrant children in its care. But plenty of questions still remain about what these drugs do to young brains in the first place.

"The benefits or risks of psychotropic medications to brain development are only beginning to be evaluated," says Dr.