Monday, August 23, 2004
Anti-depressant deaths increase (UK)BBC story - "A popular anti-depressant has been linked with growing numbers of suicides and accidental overdoses, statistics show. Between 1993 and 2002, 118 people in England and Wales taking venlafaxine (Efexor) died - 17.6 deaths per million prescriptions. Although the rate is still lower than that associated with old-generation tricyclic drugs, it is rising, while the rate for tricyclics is falling. The figures were collected by the National Audit Office." See also the related story at
The Guardian,
Anti-depressant's link to suicide. The full study is available in the autumn issue of
Health Statistics Quarterly (Adobe Acrobat format)
.
Troubled Home for Mentally Ill Gets Operator With Troubled Past (New York)New York Times story - "Ocean House, a 125-bed repository of last resort for New York City's impoverished mentally ill, and its dispiriting history are not all that remarkable in the world of the state's adult homes. Eight years ago, its operator went to prison for stealing residents' money and using the accounts of the home, which is in Queens, as a personal million-dollar slush fund. The state then inexplicably let his brother-in-law, a disgraced lawyer with no mental-health credentials, take over. Last month, he pleaded guilty to a scheme to steal more than $2 million from the home. And now, though the Pataki administration has vowed to reform the state's adult home system, the new operator it installed at Ocean House also has a checkered background. The adult home he runs in Albany was recently cited by inspectors for violations that endangered residents, and last fall, officials seized two nursing homes he operated in Connecticut after charging widespread financial malfeasance, including the mishandling of residents' and workers' money..." [Viewing
New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
Coalition Report Calls for Overhaul of Health System Psychiatric News story - " The report may be a sign that momentum is building toward another urgent national debate on health system reform, 10 years after the failure of the Clinton health reform initiative. It's déjà vu all over again. Ten years after a debate on national health system reform sputtered and died, a group calling itself the largest coalition of organizations focused on health care reform has issued an alarm: the nation's health care system is in crisis and needs immediate, fundamental, systemic reform. The National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC), a Washington, D.C.–based advocacy group, issued a report calling for fundamental health system reform beyond anything that is being considered today in Congress." See also the full report,
Building a Better Health Care System: Specifications for Reform (
Adobe Acrobat format
).
Officials say county mental health pullout could hurt Carlsbad schools (California)North County Times story - "Carlsbad Unified School District officials said Friday they are joining with other districts in pressuring the state to appeal a recent court decision allowing the county to drop mental health care for special education children. District school board President Kelli Moors said that district officials are also hoping to pressure state lawmakers to come up with the money to pay the costs of the program. ... County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to shut down the services now offered to about 1,200 children countywide on Nov. 30 if the state doesn't come up with enough money to pay the bills, or if school districts don't step up to pay for the program."
Mental health workers say state in crisis (Kansas)Story in the
Lawrence Journal World - " Those who care for the Kansas mentally ill are in a panic about what to do with patients now that two of the three state hospitals are near or at capacity. 'This is a crisis for people who are in crisis,' said Dave Johnson, executive director at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, referring to people with mental illnesses that render them a danger to themselves and others. No one seems to know why admissions to Osawatomie State Hospital, which serves Douglas County and eastern Kansas, have increased 15 percent a year for the past four years."
Mental health patients at risk from new legal rights (UK)Story in
The Herald - "Fears that shortages of staff and secure units will threaten new legal rights for mental health patients have been raised by one of Scotland's leading experts on the issue. Dr Sandra Grant, former chief executive of the Scottish Health Advisory Service, has spoken out after investigating Scotland's preparation for the new legislation."
Advocacy group urges resignation of official who oversees center (Missouri)St. Louis Post Dispatch stopy - "An advocacy group called Friday for the resignation of Anne Deaton, the state's head of mental retardation services, amid allegations that residents at the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center are being systematically abused. The Mentally Retarded Citizens of Missouri demanded that Deaton step down in the wake of the alleged beating death of George Holmes, 33, a mildly retarded man who died Aug. 3 at the center in Bellefontaine Neighbors..."
