Monday, September 23, 2002

US Falls Short in Caring for Kids' Mental Health
Reuters Health story at Yahoo on a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry which found that on average, 7% of children were receiving mental health services, but "21% of children who required a mental health evaluation actually got services, leaving an estimated 7.5 million children in need of mental healthcare without it." Researchers noted that Latino children, uninsured children and preschoolers had the greatest unmet need.  
  

Illinois Medicaid Suggests Splitting Zoloft
Washington Post story - "In an unusual effort to keep costs down, the Medicaid program in Illinois has decided to ask doctors to prescribe a double dose of a popular antidepressant - which costs about the same as a smaller dose - and then to tell patients to split the pills in half. State officials said the measure would save about $3 million a year. It came after the pharmaceutical company that makes the popular medicine Zoloft implored officials not to remove the drug from the state's list of preferred medicines."  
  

Media's grasp of mental health is slow to develop
PR Week story on media coverage of mental illness - "mental health remains an issue that few media outlets cover head-on. Instead, it ends up being reported as a subset of other stories, such as mentally coping with a layoff, or helping children adjust to divorcing parents. The biggest example of this has been the coverage of the counseling many people received following last year's terrorist attacks."  
  

Many programs available in Pennsylvania, little money to go around
Bucks County Courier Times article on programs available to the 120,000 state citizens with mental retardation and the shortage of funds to support those services.  
  

Critics force Milburn to rewrite Bill (UK) Story at The Independent - "Ministers are prepared to rewrite the most controversial parts of their draft mental health Bill, after a barrage of complaints from Britain's most senior medical bodies."  
  

The new strategy of sobriety (Georgia)
Savannah Morning News story "Starting Oct. 1, a team of local agencies will test the state's latest overhaul of substance-abuse programs."  
  

Mental Health merger? (North Carolina)
Jacksonville Daily News story - "Representatives from three neighboring area mental health programs will present their bids to merge with Onslow County’s program to county commissioners Monday."  
  

Patients put a strain on police (South Carolina)
Charlotte Observer story - Police officers who should be patrolling the streets and investigating crimes are spending their days supervising mentally ill patients at Springs Memorial Hospital, according to area authorities."