Friday, September 12, 2003
For Patients' Rights, a Quiet Fadeaway Washington Post article called to our attention by the outstanding
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - "... the crusade for patients' rights has faded from view -- both at the White House and in Congress. Apart from one sentence in his State of the Union address in January, Bush has not mentioned the topic all year. The father of the patients' rights movement in Congress, Rep. Charles Whitlow Norwood Jr. (R-Ga.), resurrected legislation in March so half-heartedly that he decided not to seek any co-sponsors. In the Senate, the issue's main champions have not even gone through the motions of filing a bill. It was two years ago that the drive to protect the nation's patients crested, when Bush and Norwood reached an agreement on the issue's most divisive aspect: how much recourse to give patients in the courts if their health plans deprive them of care. The House accepted the surprise deal, but more than a year of negotiations between the White House and the Senate quietly ended in an impasse..."
Emory researchers find Paxil improves memory and brain structure in PTSD sufferers Emory University Health Sciences Center press release - "Emory University researchers have found that paroxetine HCL (Paxil) produces measurable improvement in verbal memory and also increases the size of the hippocampus, a key area of the brain involved in learning and remembering, in persons suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their study, which will be published in the Oct. 1 edition of
Biological Psychiatry, also found that Paxil significantly reduces the three main symptom clusters of PTSDre-experiencing the traumatic event; avoidance and emotional numbing related to experiences that recall the traumatic event; and hyperarousal at inappropriate times."
Family Education Improves Mood Stability in Bipolar Patients Reuters Health story at
Medscape - "When the families of patients with bipolar disorder type I are involved in an intensive family-focused therapy program, patients on maintenance treatment have longer periods of sustained remission and less severe mood symptoms. Dr. David J. Miklowitz, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and colleagues conducted a study in which 101 patients were recruited within 3 months of a manic, mixed, or depressed episode. Their findings are published in the September issue of the
Archives of General Psychiatry." [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Weight Gain from Antipsychotic Drugs Is Reversible Reuters Health story at
Yahoo - "A common side effect of many antipsychotic medications is increased appetite and weight gain, but a new study suggests that this doesn't happen to all patients. And even if they do gain weight, they can shed the extra pounds with diet and exercise, or even by switching medication..."
State releases critical inspection of state hospital (Vermont) Concord Monitor story - "State officials have released a federal inspection report critical of the Vermont State Hospital that has jeopardized the facility's future federal funding. The 28-page document details deficiencies federal inspectors found at the state's 54-bed psychiatric hospital during two visits in August. ... Federal officials have given the hospital until Sept. 30 to correct all the deficiencies or lose as much as $700,000 a year in Medicare and Medicaid payments. 'We are very hopeful that we will not be terminated,' Susan Besio, commissioner of the Department of Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health, said Thursday. Along with the federal inspection report, she released the state's detailed plan of correction, which was due Friday at the Boston regional office of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services." The documents referenced are not yet available online, but interested readers should check the state's
Department of Mental Health site.
VA Overhaul May Limit Vets' Access to Care ABC News story - "Senators on Thursday said they were worried that a major overhaul of the Veterans Affairs Department health care system would deprive some veterans of access to treatment. ... The top lawmakers on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, chairman Christopher Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., also wrote Alvarez recently saying one of their greatest concerns was whether the process adequately addressed such specialized VA programs as geriatrics, long-term care, mental health, substance abuse and homelessness."
NAMI Applauds Governor Howard Dean on Mental Health Reform NAMI press release at
Yahoo - "NAMI, the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness, has praised the mental health reform agenda being announced today in New Hampshire by presidential candidate Howard Dean. NAMI National Executive Director Richard C. Birkel, Ph.D. issued the following statement: 'Governor Dean deserves America's thanks for his proposals to move the nation's mental health system forward, out of the shadow of too many broken promises and a sorry state of perpetual crisis. He has set down a marker for the 2004 presidential election. He has done so distinctly, early in the electoral process -- in a manner that is rare, if not unprecedented, for a presidential campaign. As the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness, NAMI is non-partisan. We do not endorse candidates. Mental illness is not a partisan issue. Mental disorders such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders affect Republican and Democratic families alike. One in four Americans will be affected by mental illness at some point in their lifetime. No one is immune.' " See also
Mental Health Advocates' Statement on Dean Mental Health Agenda (
Ascirbe Newswire) on the reaction of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform. [
Editor's note - From time to time, readers will find links here to news stories and articles on proposals and positions put forth by various political candidates. The inclusion of such material is not intended to advocate for or against any particular candidates or views, and should not be understood as such, but rather as part of an effort to distribute information of interest to readers and to help contribute to the overall quality of discourse on issues related to mental health. - BD]
