Monday, June 14, 2004

Glaxo to Release Child Depression Trials Results
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Thursday it plans to release trial results of its depression drug Paxil in children and adolescents after the New York attorney general accused it of suppressing the information. The British drugmaker said that to 'clarify the nature of these data,' which New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said was negative and deliberately hidden, it will shortly be making available summaries of the reports on its Web Site at www.gsk.com. Spitzer has sued GlaxoSmithKline claiming it fraudulently concealed studies showing Paxil may not work when used to treat children and could lead to suicidal behavior. Glaxo has denied the allegations..." "med"  
  

Drug Company Influence Under Microscope
AP story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Drug companies' influence on medical research and on doctors themselves will be under the microscope as the nation's largest group of physicians gathers for its annual meeting this week. Proposals facing the American Medical Association include a measure seeking to make all drug study results public, even unpublished research funded by pharmaceutical companies that might reflect poorly on their products. The measure stems partly from concern over unpublished data linking some antidepressants with suicidal behavior in children. Government officials are investigating the potential link. Another measure would strengthen a policy the AMA adopted last year on 'shadowing,'' the practice of drug company representatives sitting in on patients' visits with their doctors. Critics say the practice is an attempt to influence what medicines are prescribed. Drug companies say the practice is educational, but they sometimes pay hundreds of dollars a day to the doctors for these visiting rights - money the new measure says doctors should refuse..."  
  

Depression, Dementia Can be Confused: Accurate Diagnosis Important
Menninger Clinic press release - "Depression is the most common psychiatric illness confused with Alzheimer’s disease. Consider the personality and mood changes. Difficulty concentrating. Loss of zest for favorite activities. Mental health professionals at the nationally known Menninger Clinic alert families to become more informed of the similarities of depression and the early onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Other shared symptoms include forgetfulness or lapses in memory, withdrawal from daily activities, indecisiveness, reduced sense of self-esteem, change in sleep patterns, agitation or decrease in energy and change in weight. All of these are symptoms of depression that may or may not be seen with early Alzheimer’s, says Alice Rogan, M.D., psychiatrist at The Menninger Clinic and assistant professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine..."  
  

Prevalence, Severity, and Unmet Need for Treatment of Mental Disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys
Article in JAMA by the WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium on a study designed to "estimate prevalence, severity, and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) mental disorders in 14 countries (6 less developed, 8 developed) in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative." The report is also available in Adobe Acrobat format to facilitate printing. See also, in the same issue, Evidence-Based Global Health.  
  

Dizzying shift: Pushing mentally ill into managed care (Florida)
Daytona Beach News-Journal editorial - "On July 1, Florida will start moving 73,000 Medicaid patients with mental illnesses into managed-care programs. It's a giant windfall for the big health-maintenance corporation that backed the move and a nasty surprise for advocates who discovered the change weeks after it had been buried in an appropriations bill. Most of all, it's a gut-wrenching leap into the unknown for these patients, their families and the community mental-health organizations that serve them. The abrupt transition is unplanned for, unnecessary and unjustified. It only takes a calendar to illustrate the lack of preparation. The Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation Board, created in 2003, was asked to conduct a study of managed care and mental health. That report is due in December. Yet, the appropriations bill mandated that the change begin in July. That seems to indicate that the lawmakers who sneaked this provision into the budget weren't terribly interested in muddying the issue with facts."  
  

A turf war over mental health
Boston Globe story - "Across the United States, psychiatrists and psychologists are engaged in a bruising battle. Two professions normally focused on respecting emotions and listening are instead hurling barbs, accusing each other of caring more about money and turf than patients. The issue: giving psychologists the authority to prescribe drugs. A long-smoldering debate ignited last month when Louisiana passed a law allowing psychologists there to write prescriptions. Psychiatrists, who as medical doctors can prescribe, bitterly fought the legislation and said they fear it will generate momentum in other states."  
  

Health lobby blocks mental health parity
CNN story - "Aided by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, insurance companies successfully have blocked legislation to make them provide equal coverage for mental and physical illnesses if their policies include both. President Bush endorsed the concept two years ago. Today, supporters of the bill are willing to settle for a scaled-back version they hope Congress will pass in 2004. The original legislation has 69 sponsors in the Senate and 246 sponsors in the House, clear majorities in both chambers. It was named for late Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Minnesota Democrat who championed the issue for years. Hastert, however, has declined to schedule a House vote. In the Senate, Republicans blocked an attempt to win passage last fall, on the one-year anniversary of Wellstone's death in a plane crash..."  
  

Drive to end mental health stigma (UK)
Newsroom item at the 10 Downing Street web site - " The government has set out plans to address all the issues that affect people with mental health problems rather than just focusing on their medical needs. It has also called for a major shift in attitudes towards people with mental health problems. A report published by the Social Exclusion Unit today shows that people with mental health problems are one of the most socially excluded groups. Common problems like depression affect up to one in six adults at any one time and GPs spend a third of their time on mental health issues. The report also sets out plans to help people with mental health problems have the same opportunities as any other citizen." See also the report and the summary by the Social Exclusion Unit (Adobe Acrobat format) and the related BBC story, Bid to end mental health stigma.