WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The Congressional Mental Health Caucus is calling for hearings on the state of U.S. mental healthcare in the wake of last weekend's deadly shooting in Tucson.
Caucus co-founder Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., said it was time to move beyond the "stigma" attached to mental illness and its treatments, The Hill reported Sunday.
"It's always something you don't talk about, you don't discuss because of the stigma. And I think we need to address that heavily," Napolitano said on CNN's "State of the Union."
"It's one of those areas where I believe that we are not informing and educating the public enough to be able to help them make the decisions to help those that they love," she said.
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., a former child psychologist and caucus co-founder, called for the Energy and Commerce Committee, of which he's a member, to hold hearings on the issue.
"I believe this issue has touched the hearts of so many members of Congress who are constantly stopping me and saying, is there something else we could have done? Is there something else we can do? And I believe so," he said.
The shooting left six people dead and injured 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
Experts speculate Jared Loughner, charged with the killings, is mentally ill, the Boston Globe reported.
In a poll, while 40 percent of respondents said they thought the shooting could not have been prevented, 23 percent said they blamed the mental health system.
"We don't know if things would have been different we could have prevented this tragedy," Murphy said. "We do know that appropriate and timely mental health treatment has prevented tragedies and will prevent tragedies."
