Monday, February 21, 2005

Outcome can be good for adolescents after first psychotic episode Psychiatry Matters story - "Contrary to previous reports, adolescents show significant improvement in symptoms following treatment for a first psychotic episode, with many engaged in employment or schooling 2 years later, study findings show. 'Although the current findings do not indicate that adolescents with psychosis have an excellent prognosis, they do not reveal the chronic, bleak outcome that some studies of early-onset psychosis describe,' Alissa Pencer and colleagues, from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, write in the journal Psychiatry Research. For their study, the team examined symptomatic and functional outcome in 69 adolescents 1 and 2 years after receiving optimal treatment for their first episode of psychosis. The findings for these adolescents were also compared with data for an adult sample attending the same program and receiving the same treatment approach."  
  

NAMI Urges Support for Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicaid Announcement at the NAMI web site - "A bipartisan coalition led by Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Jeff Bingaman (D- NM) and Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Donna Christensen have introduced legislation (S 338 & HR 985) to create a bipartisan commission on the future of the Medicaid program. This bill calls for the design of a commission of experts who will evaluate Medicaid and recommend efficiencies before funding cuts or changes to the program are made. In NAMI’s view, it is critically important for policymakers at both the state and federal level to make needed improvements and maintain Medicaid’s role as a critical safety net for the most vulnerable citizens. A Commission will help ensure that efforts to restrain the growth of the program are driven by agreed upon policy objectives, rather than arbitrary assumptions regarding budget cuts..."  
  

ERs Underdiagnosing Psychiatric Illness Health Day News story at Yahoo - "U.S. hospital emergency departments greatly underdiagnose psychiatric disorders, resulting in unnecessary suffering among patients, a new study finds. Missing these diagnoses 'is potentially the most damaging for the more vulnerable minorities and the poor, who rely on emergency departments for much of their primary health-care needs,' the researchers wrote in the February issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology."  
  

Teen's Lawsuit Could Alter North Carolina Care WSOC-TV story - "North Carolina could be forced to spend millions of dollars to make mental health services more available statewide if it loses a lawsuit working its way through the courts. Wake Superior Court Judge Howard E. Manning Jr. ruled after hearings in December that the state is required to provide the services prescribed for a Henderson County 16-year-old by his psychiatrist. Manning has sent the case of Thomas Reiter back to an administrative law judge to determine whether the state has fulfilled its obligation. A hearing is expected in the next few weeks. But Thomas Reiter's mother, Kathy, has no more patience. The state has failed for decades to provide adequate care, she said. She doesn't believe the state will meet a July 1 deadline to launch new local programs that will keep her son out of institutions. The widely watched case has the potential to affect community-based care for the mentally ill across the state. In Wake, Durham and Johnston counties alone, 7,014 children receive such services..."  
  

Teddy bear raises business ethics questions  AP story in the Buffalo News - "Someday, the straitjacketed 'Crazy For You' bear may be a case study in America's business schools. The decision by the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. to market the stuffed toy - and to keep doing so despite widespread criticism it was insensitive toward the mentally ill - has intrigued business ethicists and public relations executives around the country. Was the bear a brilliant marketing ploy or a big mistake? ... When mental health groups and Gov. James Douglas complained about the "Crazy for You" bear, the company responded by saying it was sorry if it had offended anyone, but would continue selling the bears until its inventory was gone. "