Tuesday, November 19, 2002

House Passes Limited-Parity Extension
NMHA press release on the "successful bipartisan effort to pass legislation that would extend the limited protections of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996" - which also urges Congress "to make early passage of a comprehensive mental health parity law a bipartisan goal for next year.”  
  

New Schizophrenia Drug
HealthScoutNews story at Yahoo - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Bristol-Meyers Squibb drug Abilify (aripiprazole) for the treatment of schizophrenia, the company says in a press release."  
  

Court To Mull Disability Case Limits
AP story at InteliHealth - "The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider more limits on lawsuits by the disabled, this time involving a state medical board's refusal to license a mentally ill doctor. Justices will decide whether agencies, like the California Medical Board, have constitutional protection from lawsuits under a federal disability law."  
  

The At-Risk Youth Industry
Feature article in The Atlantic - "Claims that contracting out social services would improve efficiency and lower costs have not panned out—and the projected windfalls for private contractors have failed to materialize. Many state and local governments, however, continue to entrust social services to profit-driven companies. Examining the records of some of the industry's leaders highlights the substantial social costs of doing so."  
  

Northville Psychiatric Hospital to shut doors (Michigan)
Detroit News story on the planned closing of one of the state's largest psychiatric hospitals, "because staff is dwindling and patients are shifting to community-based treatment centers."  
  

Agency: Mental illness aid in danger (Montana)
Billings Gazette story - "Thousands of poor, mentally ill Montanans will lose state help under Gov. Judy Martz's proposed state budget, an agency official said Monday. Martz's plan calls for cutting about 70 percent of the budget for the Mental Health Services Plan, a state-run program that provides treatment for about 5,200 Montanans suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental problems..."  
  

New report slams mental health system (Canada)
Ottowa Citizen story on a report by Ontario Public Service Employees Union - "An acute shortage of beds for those with serious mental illnesses in Ontario is short-changing patients and placing an undue burden on general hospitals and jails, a report released Monday concludes." The full rport, "Reality: Ontario's Mental Health Care System Isn't Working" is available from the OPSEU web site in Adobe Acrobat format.  
  

Mental health services top child welfare need (Florida)
Vero Press Journal story on a community asessment report on Indian River County - "mental health tops most of the lists of services that local child-welfare professionals say is in too short a supply in the county, has extensive waiting lists and leads to frustrations."