Monday, September 30, 2002
NIDA and SAMHSA agreement expedites transfer of research findings to clinical practice A press release from the National Institute on Drug Abuse on "a unique intra-agency agreement to expedite the application of findings from treatment research into clinical application.... Under the agreement, NIDA will provide funding to support CSAT's Addiction Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC), a network comprised of 14 independent regional centers and a national office charged with increasing the knowledge and skills of addiction treatment practitioners and fostering alliances to support and implement best treatment practices. The purpose of the agreement is to enhance efforts to disseminate and apply findings from NIDA's National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) as well as other NIDA-supported studies to practitioners served by the ATTCs."
Key Legislation Falling Victim to Calendar Washington Post story on how "...both President Bush and congressional Democrats are watching some of their top initiatives fall by the wayside -- victims of the calendar and the two parties' skillful manipulation of it to advance their own political and policy objectives." Among the initiatives that appear "in varying states of peril" are protections for managed-care patients and improved insurance coverage for mental health.
After Decline, the Number of Uninsured Rose in 2001 New York Times story - "The number of Americans without health insurance rose to 41.2 million last year, an increase of 1.4 million, and small businesses accounted for much of the erosion in coverage, the Census Bureau said today. The proportion of the population without insurance also increased, to 14.6 percent in 2001, from 14.2 percent in 2000, the bureau said." [Viewing
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Call for more help for addicts (UK) BBC story - "Thousands of lives could be saved each year if people with drug problems had greater awareness of addiction services" according to the charity Action on Addiction, which has launched a campaign called Angels Against Addiction in an effort to improve services and boost research.
County budget realignment aims high (New York) Democrat & Chronicle story on the cost-saving plan of Monroe County executive Jack Doyle (Rochester area). Doyle has said that "the county could save $30 million next year by consolidating the Department of Social Services with part of the Health Department and three other agencies.....but questions have been raised by advocates for the poor about whether the savings that Doyle envisions are possible."
State plans to collect personal medical data (Minnesota) Minneapolis Star Tribune story on plans by the Minnesota Health Department to collect medical information on virtually every patient in Minnesota, complete with names, birth dates and diagnoses. "Critics point to several cases that reinforce their worst fears. Last year, the mental health evaluations of up to 20 Minnesota children were posted on a University of Montana Web site when a student accidentally transferred the data from her laptop computer. In Florida, a state health investigator was reportedly fired in 1996 for distributing a confidential list of AIDS patients. In 1999, the General Accounting Office reported that a federal employee admitted to looking through the Medicare files of famous people; he was allowed to resign."
Mental health problems 'rife in secure accommodation' (UK) icNewcastle story - "More than half of secure accommodation centres contain young people with severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia and psychosis, says a new survey. Yet a third of such centres said none of their staff had received formal training in dealing with mental health issues."
Families Struggle to Bond With Kids (Utah) Salt Lake Tribune feature story on the ongoing debate surrounding reactive attachment disorder and its diagnosis and treatment - a debate "that pits medical doctors against mental health professionals and social workers, as well as parent against parent."
Virginia holding its breath Times Dispatch story on the need for Gov. Mark Warner to balance the budget that is short almost $2 billion, and the possibility of significant job cuts, furloughs of state workers, reduced public education spending and cuts in services for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled.
Mental health services need united front, lawmaker says (Nevada) Las Vegas Review Journal story on comments by state Sen. Randolph Townsend of Reno, the head of a legislative panel studying Nevada's mental health services, who "warned Friday that advocates who provide those services must unite in seeking more state funding."
Mentally ill can be ordered to get help (California) AP story at the
Orange County Register - "Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation Saturday that will allow courts to order the mentally ill into outpatient treatment, a step supporters believe will avoid cycles of neglect and violence."
County: Youth center improves (Pennsylvania) Dispatch/Sunday News story on York County officials, who say they are now satisfied "that the staffing level and quality of care at the county's youth detention home have improved, so they are once again sending difficult cases to the facility. Arrangements were made in August to send tough cases -- youth who are aggressive or have mental health problems -- to a Harrisburg facility."
Rehab centers monitor Bush case (Florida) USA Today story - "An Orlando judge is expected to decide today whether staff members at a rehab center can be forced to cooperate with police investigating possible drug charges against Noelle Bush — the daughter of Gov. Jeb Bush. Because of its high profile — Noelle, 25, is also the president's niece — the case is being closely watched by about 14,000 drug treatment centers nationwide where 1.1 million abusers sought help in 2001."
