Thursday, January 27, 2005

Reorganizing State Health Agencies to Meet Changing Needs: State Restructuring Efforts In 2003 Report (in Adobe Acrobat format) from the National Governor's Association, called to our attention at the Open Minds web site - "... As a result of fiscal pressures, almost every state sought to generate cost savings by allocating public resources more effectively. Because of the prominence of health care costs in most state budgets, health care was placed at the forefront of state cost-containment efforts. Moreover, many governors placed an emphasis on downsizing, reorganizing, and streamlining state government in order to achieve efficiencies and create cost-savings. This report provides a nationwide snapshot of state health agency organizational structures and examines state efforts to restructure these agencies during 2003. It also describes the focus, goals and overall outcomes of restructuring efforts. Because of Medicaid’s prominence in state budgets, it places special emphasis on changes affecting the Medicaid program and its placement in state organizational structures. It also highlights the organizational placement of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant (Title V MCH) program."  
  

Blueprint for Resilience: Services for Children, Adolescents and their Families A 90-page report (in Adobe Acrobat format) from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, originally published in August 2004 and called to our attention at the Open Minds web site - " The Blueprint For Resiliency, a strategic plan that will improve the lives of our children and establish a foundation for our system of care, will address early detection, assessment, treatment and needed supports that will promote the mental health of our children. The Blueprint is our plan to design and implement a comprehensive spectrum of mental health and other services which are organized into a network to meet the needs of our children and their families."  
  

WTC attack didn't increase mental health service use by general population NewsRx.com story at PsycPORT - "Study results show that use of mental health services by the general population in New York City didn't increase as a result of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The study was conducted by J.A. Boscarino, of the New York Academy of Medicine, and colleagues. Their objective, they said, 'was to assess prevalence and predictors of mental health service use in New York City (NYC) after the World Trade Center disaster (WTCD).' ..."  
  

Lilly Says UK Medical Journal Retracts Prozac Claim Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "The British Medical Journal has retracted its controversial claims about drug maker Eli Lilly and Co, its drug Prozac and a potential link to suicide, Lilly said on Thursday. The journal caused a stir late last year when it said it had evidence, including 'missing documents' suggesting a link between the anti-depressant and suicidal behavior and appearing to show Lilly had knowledge of these 'troubling side effects.' The medical journal now says its claim that Lilly let documents go missing was not what its authors intended."  
  

Draft Mental Health Bill unethical says BMA, UK Medical News Today story - "In its evidence (26 January 2005) to the Scrutiny Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill for England and Wales, the BMA has expressed extreme concerns about the proposed legislation. The Association believes that as the Bill stands it is unethical, unworkable and in conflict with the Human Rights Act." The story outlines the BMA's objections in detail.