Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Merck Scraps Depression Drug After Failed Trials
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Merck & Co. Inc. on Wednesday said it has halted a late-stage trial of its experimental depression drug MK-0869, also called aprepitant, after it proved ineffective in clinical trials, dimming the company's hopes of launching the first new class of depression drugs in a decade. U.S. regulators in March approved the compound as an anti-emetic for chemotherapy patients, under the brand name Emend. Merck continued to test it under the name MK-0869 against depression, a potentially far bigger market." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

States' Concerns About the Medicare Drug Debate and the Fiscal Impact of Shifting the Cost of Dual Eligible Care
Page at the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured that provides links to two new reports - "One new publication reports on findings from an October 26 discussion with state Medicaid officials on the implications of a Medicare drug benefit for states and dual eligibles. The other report provides state-level estimates on spending on dual eligibles and illustrates the effects of scenarios where the federal government assumes the cost of prescription drugs, Medicare premiums, acute care, and long-term care for this population." The reports are available in Adobe Acrobat format - Coordinating Medicaid and Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage and Shifting the Cost of Dual Eligibles: Implications for States and the Federal Government.  
  

South Carolina Emergency Rooms Begin Diverting Patients With Mental Illnesses as Part of State Effort To Reduce Overcrowding
Story at Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report based on an AP/Charlotte Observer story - "Emergency rooms in ten areas in South Carolina have begun diverting patients with mental illnesses to other facilities as part of a $1.8 million state effort to reduce overcrowding in emergency rooms... Each day, about 50 to 60 patients seeking psychiatric treatment wait for care in hospital ERs statewide, and hospitals are 'struggling day by day and dealing with these folks the best they can,; Patti Smoake, a South Carolina Hospital Association spokesperson, said. For example, the number of patients with mental illnesses has tripled at Lexington Medical Center in the past two years, and physicians and nurses say providing care for such patients is 'beyond their expertise,' the AP/Observer reports." The Observer story requires registration, which is free.  
  

Right to Refuse Medication Upheld
Portland Press Herald story reprinted at PsycPORT - " A man arrested on a firearms charge outside the Bush family estate last year cannot be forced to take medication to make him mentally competent to stand trial, a federal judge in Portland has ruled. The case is the first in Maine and one of the first in the country to rely on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that is winning praise from mental health advocates while also raising new issues for the legal system. Last week's ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Gene Carter says that even though Theodore Miller has been found mentally incompetent, he still has a constitutional right to refuse to be medicated against his will."  
  

Haloperidol, not Olanzapine, Linked With Brain Shrinkage in Schizophrenia
Doctor's Guide article - "Haloperidol may exacerbate the shrinking of the brain that scientists are beginning to link with schizophrenia. Findings of a multi-center study comparing first- and second-generation treatment for schizophrenia were announced here November 9th at the Society for Neuroscience 33rd Annual Meeting."  
  

Local Mental Health Association marks 50th anniversary (Ohio)
Newark Advocate story - "In 1953, the same year the Mental Health Association of Licking County was founded, discarded shackles and chains that once restrained patients in America's asylums were melted and cast into a 300-pound bell, forever changing the way this country perceives its citizens who have mental illness. ... The Mental Health Bell will be moved from its permanent home at the National Mental Health Association in Washington D.C., by Mathis Moving & Storage for the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Licking County movement at an event Thursday at OSU-Newark. This bell is recognized throughout the nation as the symbol of the mental-health movement, which was started in 1908 by Clifford W. Beers. "  
  

King promises better mental health care (New Zealand)
Stuff story - "Health Minister Annette King has promised all 20 recommendations to improve mental health patient safety at Wellington Hospital will be implemented by December. Ms King said in Parliament yesterday that most of the recommendations to emerge from the internal review of Chad Buckle's care and subsequent death had already been implemented and the rest would be in place by next month. ..."