Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Democrats: HHS spins health report
Atlanta Journal-Constitution story - "Eight congressional Democrats charged Tuesday that the Department of Health and Human Services watered down a report by its own scientists that cited racial and ethnic disparities in health care. In a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, they said the revisions 'alter the report's meaning, undermine efforts to address disparities, and fit a pattern of the manipulation of science by the Bush administration.' HHS scientists said in their June 2003 draft summary that the inequalities are 'national problems' that are 'pervasive in our health care system' and carry a significant 'personal and societal price.' The final report, released Dec. 23, included none of those conclusions..."  
  

Community in crisis:Cash-strapped agencies struggle to cooperate (California)
The second part of a series in the Times-Standard (Eureka) - " Social stigma combined with a scarcity of available treatment have added to the existing stress of mentally ill people in Humboldt County. Mental health advocates are trying to encourage better collaboration among agencies, and better public awareness of mental illness. Those who treat others' depression, anxiety and psychosis are themselves under a great deal of stress. Virtually all the local psychiatrists in private practice can't take new patients, and the already overburdened county mental health system is steadily losing funding." See also the first article in the series, Families struggle to deal with mental illness, which ran on January 7. The next article, scheduled for January 21, will focus on mental health and the criminal justice system.