Tuesday, September 07, 2004

NIH Proposes Free Access For Public to Research Data
Washington Post story - "The National Institutes of Health has proposed a major policy change that would require all scientists who receive funding from the agency to make the results of their research available to the public for free. The proposal, posted on the agency's Web site late Friday and subject to a 60-day public comment period, would mark a significant departure from current practice, in which the scientific journals that publish those results retain control over that information. Subscriptions to those journals can run into the thousands of dollars. Nonsubscribers wishing to get individual articles must typically pay about $30 each -- fees that can quickly add up for someone trying to learn about a newly diagnosed disease in the family."  
  

Involuntary Schizophrenia Patients Do as Well as Voluntary Ones
Psychiatric News story - "Patients treated involuntarily experience improvement that is similar to or even greater than that of the voluntary patients. The short-term outcome of inpatient treatment for schizophrenia is not dependent on whether the patient is undergoing treatment voluntarily or involuntarily. The finding provides some empirical evidence to ethically justify involuntary commitment and treatment of patients with schizophrenia from both a legal and a medical perspective, according to a study in the July Psychiatric Services."  
  

Personality Disorder Prevalence Surprises Researchers
Psychiatric News story - "Obsessive-compulsive is the most common type of personality disorder among U.S. residents, according to a population-based study of seven personality disorders, affecting almost 8 percent of adults. Almost 15 percent of Americans, or 30.8 million adults, meet diagnostic criteria for at least one personality disorder, according to the results of the 2001-02 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Among several types of personality disorders studied, the most common personality disorder found among American adults in the large, population-based study was obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (7.9 percent, or 16.4 million people), followed by paranoid personality disorder (4.4 percent, or 9.2 million), and antisocial personality disorder (3.6 percent, or 7.6 million)."  
  

Children's Health Care Threatened By State Budget Woes
Psychiatric News story - "Fiscal problems threaten the success of a popular program that provides health insurance for poor children. One bright spot in the bleak picture of the growing number of uninsured Americans has been the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). That program, enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, helped reduce the national percentage of poor children without insurance from 22.4 percent in 1997 to 15.4 percent in 2003. SCHIP is targeted to families with incomes between 100 percent and 200 percent of the poverty level and was designed to build on the Medicaid program..."  
  

Glaxo Faces Lawsuits From U.S. Parents Over Paxil
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "GlaxoSmithKline Plc is facing a number of lawsuits from U.S. parents of children and adolescents given its antidepressant Paxil, following claims the company suppressed data showing the drug increased suicidal tendencies in young people. A company spokesman confirmed on Monday that a number of suits had been received, adding the company intended to defend itself. GSK has denied covering up clinical trials results. At least one case is a class-action suit. The action by families comes in the wake of a legal clash with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who had accused GSK of withholding negative information about Paxil. In the event, Europe's biggest drug maker settled the Spitzer case last month for a surprisingly small $2.5 million..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Serotonin-Related Abnormality Seen in Major Depressive Disorder
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Tryptophan depletion studies in patients with and without a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) have revealed a disease-specific, serotonin-related process, researchers report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry." "med"  
  

Telemedicine expands to the psychiatrist´s sofa (Maine)
AP story at MaineToday - "Doctors have consulted on everything from colds to cancer for years through video monitors. The latest trend in telemedicine involves what is often intensely personal relationships between patient and psychiatrist. ... The 'telepsychiatry' initiative that began this summer in Maine attempts to link rural patients to doctors in bigger cities using high-capacity phone lines, video cameras and television screens. Maine has about 210 sites equipped for telemedicine, but only two locations are using telepsychiatry: the Regional Medical Center of Lubec and Jackman Regional Health Center."  
  

Pediatricians Treating More Kids With Behavioral Problems
HealthDayNews story - "Pediatricians are diagnosing and treating an increasing number of children with behavioral health problems, but they don't always feel comfortable or adequately trained to do so, says a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center study. Interviews with community pediatricians found that about 15 percent of the children they see have behavioral health problems. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral health condition seen by pediatricians, who expressed a high level of comfort with the diagnosis. But they felt less sure about dealing with children suffering from anxiety or depression. Less than half the pediatricians said they frequently diagnosed anxiety or depression in children. Those who did typically used questionnaires in making the diagnosis. The study appears in the September issue of Pediatrics."  
  

Many Teen Drug Treatment Programs Found Lacking
HealthDayNews story at Yahoo - "Many of the key elements believed to be essential for effective treatment in teen substance abuse programs are missing from a number of highly regarded programs in the United States. That's the conclusion of a report in the September issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The missing components include 'gender and cultural sensitivity,' strategies for engaging and retaining teens, and evaluating the success of the treatment, the study found."  
  

Mental health care wards 'woeful' (UK)
BBC story - "Mental health patients are having to endure woeful conditions in psychiatric wards, according to research. The mental health charity Mind found patients regularly suffered abuse and felt they were not treated with respect while in hospital. Nearly a quarter of patients said they were treated in mixed-sex wards despite government claims that it was a rarity. The report kicks-off a new campaign by Mind, Ward Watch, to improve hospital conditions for psychiatric patients." See also the Mind web site and the resources on their Ward Watch initiative.