Wednesday, October 29, 2003

NAMI Sees Cure for Schizophrenia Possible in 10 Years
NAMI press release - "The NAMI Policy Research Institute (NPRI) today announced creation of a Task Force on Serious Mental Illness Research, co-chaired by Edward Scolnick, MD, president emeritus of Merck Research Laboratories and NAMI medical director Ken Duckworth, MD, who is the former mental health commissioner for Massachusetts. The Executive Committee of NAMI’s Scientific Council, chaired by Jack Gorman, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, will help coordinate the effort. 'NAMI takes seriously the statement of Dr.Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) that with the right investments, scientists are within reach of finding a cure for schizophrenia in the next ten years,' said NAMI national executive director Richard C. Birkel, PhD...."  
  

Give mentally ill care, not jail cells (Georgia)
Editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reprinted at the NAMI web site - "Georgia's mental health care delivery system is crumbling. Publicly funded treatment for the mentally ill is at the mercy of fraud, waste, underfunding and lack of community commitment. Many of the services are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy due to budget cuts, mismanagement and, in some cases, outright theft. Two of the 25 community service boards that contract with the state to deliver mental health services have been under criminal investigation for waste and Medicaid fraud. Another has been taken over by the state because of money problems and several others are in financial trouble..."