Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Regulators Want Antidepressants to List Warning
Front page New York Times article - "Patients taking antidepressants can become suicidal in the first weeks of therapy, and physicians should watch patients closely when first giving the drugs or changing dosages, federal regulators said yesterday. The warnings are part of a public health advisory issued by the Food and Drug Administration and are a reminder that antidepressants, taken by millions around the world, are not without risks. The agency is asking drug manufacturers to place detailed caveats about the drugs' side effects prominently on their labels. Advertisement The agency's decision to issue such a broad warning was a surprise. Top F.D.A. officials have long insisted that their decisions are driven only by clear-cut evidence from well-run clinical trials. But in a conference call with reporters yesterday, agency officials said that no studies had shown a convincing link between drug therapy and suicide. Suicide is such a rare side effect that studies on the subject have been difficult to interpret, the regulators said. Still, the agency issued the advisory anyway." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free]. See also Suicide Warning Sought for Antidepressants, an AP story reprinted at Yahoo.   
  

Medscape Journal Scan: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, February 2004
This Medscape "Journal Scan" includes recent articles from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry American Journal of Psychiatry. [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Medscape Journal Scan: Psychiatry, February 2004
"Journal Scan is the clinician's guide to the latest clinical research findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry, The Lancet, Archives of General Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Short summaries of feature articles include links to the article abstracts and full text, when available." "med"  
  

NAMI Maine launches Campaign for the Mind of America
Press release at the NAMI web site - "NAMI Maine and over 15 organizations released The State of the Mental Health System in Maine in the state’s largest city today, as part of a national campaign to build community support for access to services and treatment for people with mental illness. Nearly 35 thousand of Maine’s over 1.3 million residents has a severe mental illness, yet most do not receive treatment. ... Advocates and experts will present report findings to legislators and other policymakers on the scope of the mental health crisis in Maine, and recommend solutions that are evidence-based, cost-effective, and safe."  
  

Race, Ethnicity, and Health
A report from the Urban Institute (also available in Adobe Acrobat and "printer friendly" formats) - " The creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), combined with many states' decisions to expand Medicaid eligibility, increased public coverage of black, white, and Hispanic children between 1997 and 2002. Uninsurance rates fell among children in low-income white, black, and Hispanic families, remained constant among white and black children in higher-income families, and increased among Hispanic children in higher-income families. The health status of children, as reported by their parents, was stable for blacks, whites, and Hispanics, except for a decline in health among higher-income Hispanic children. Over the same period, black and white adults saw increases in public health insurance coverage but not in overall coverage. The uninsurance rate of Hispanic adults increased, despite expanded public coverage of higher-income Hispanic adults."  
  

Dreams Ride on Freud's Royal Road, Study Finds
Article in the New York Times - "More than a century ago, Freud proposed that dreams concealed subconscious wishes and desires, a theory that has in recent decades fallen from scientific favor. A new study, however, may add weight to the idea that what people suppress during the day returns when they close their eyes at night. Deliberately blocking thoughts about someone before going to sleep, the researchers found, made it more likely that the person would appear in a dream that night." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

CMH blames unpopular decisions' on cutbacks in state, county funding (Michigan)
Story in the Flint Journal - "A lack of state funding is affecting the flexibility of Genesee County Community Mental Health Services to offer certain kinds of programming, Danis Russell, a local mental health leader, recently told politicians. At a local legislative breakfast on changes at CMH, policy makers learned the reasons for staff turnover and layoffs, and the closing of a popular job training site, Community Industries Services..."  
  

Mental health program gets recognition (Canada)
Leader Post story - "A Regina program that assists mental health patients has been chosen as one of the first recipients of a Stellar Award for Quality. ... GROW Clinical Pathway provides more effective treatment for patients with personality disorders by developing a patient-team agreement, identifying goals and connecting with a community worker."  
  

Web site first step in mental health care (Ohio)
Plain Dealer story - " Lorain County is pioneering a free Web site heralded as a revolutionary way to help people navigate mental health care. ... The Mental Health Network of Care's search engine will steer those reluctant to seek help because of the stigma associated with mental ill nesses to local support groups, care providers, even legislators sponsoring mental health bills.  
  

Mental Health Plan Compromise (Nebraska)
WOWT story - "A compromise reached on a mental health reform plan will ensure that both the Hastings and Norfolk regional centers remain open until they are operating at less than 20 percent of capacity. The agreement was reached Tuesday with proponents and opponents of the reform plan. Senators involved with the talks said Governor Mike Johanns has signed off on the accord. Johanns spokeswoman Terri Teuber declined to immediately comment."  
  

State senators promise mental health reforms (Ohio)
Coshocton Tribune story - "Three state senators on Monday promised to push for reforms in Ohio's mental health system, saying they must move quickly to stop the abuse and neglect of children and make sure tax money isn't wasted. The lawmakers proposed changes after a two-day Cincinnati Enquirer series revealed that Ohio parents have given up custody of as many as 1,800 children in the past three years so the government will pay to treat their mental illness..."