Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Study Shows Most Northwest Preschoolers Cared for by Kaiser Permanente Who Get Psychiatric Medication Have Severe Behavioral Problems
PR Newswire story at Yahoo - "Researchers at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland have found that 2 percent of Northwest preschoolers ages 2 to 5 enrolled in Kaiser Permanente had been diagnosed with symptoms of one or more emotional or behavioral disorders. Of the 743 youngsters with such a diagnosis, one in six (120) had been prescribed a psychiatric medication, such as Ritalin." The lead author of the study is quoted as saying that this appears to be "the first study that directly links medications received by preschool children with their mental health diagnoses and behavioral symptoms, and with the kinds of treatment they received."  
  

Methadone Grows as Killer Drug
New York Times story - "Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming rise in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

State Can Make Inmate Sane Enough to Execute, Court Rules
New York Times story - "The federal appeals court in St. Louis ruled yesterday that officials in Arkansas can force a prisoner on death row to take antipsychotic medication to make him sane enough to execute. Without the drugs, the prisoner, Charles Laverne Singleton, could not be put to death under a United States Supreme Court decision that prohibits the execution of the insane." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Study: Lack Of Care For Youths Wastes Money (Connecticut)
Hartford Courant story - "Large gaps in mental health services within the juvenile justice system are costing the state money and depriving children of quality care, a new report says. The report being issued today by the Connecticut Center for Effective Practice concludes that more comprehensive mental health care could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by keeping troubled youths out of expensive residential treatment programs, detention centers and psychiatric hospitals."  
  

New approach planned to fight homelessness
Boston Herald story - "With demands for shelter at record levels across the country, President Bush's point person for homelessness was in Boston yesterday touting a new strategy and new funds to fight what has been an overwhelming problem... Bush's program, called the Samaritan Initiative, would award grants to nonprofits that find permanent housing for the chronic homeless - bypassing shelters - and also provide medical and mental health services to those individuals in their homes."