Thursday, April 08, 2004

Patients with alcohol and drug use disorders more likely to have personality disorders
A JAMA and Archives Journals Website press release - "The prevalence of personality disorders among patients with alcohol and drug use disorders is significant in the United States population, according to an article in the April issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Very little information is available on the co-occurrence of different personality disorders (PDs) and alcohol and drug use disorders in the U.S. population, according to background information in the article. Therefore, Bridget F. Grant, Ph.D., of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues investigated this issue..."  
  

Alcohol Agencies Announce Academic Emergency Medicine Department Collaboration
Press release at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism web site - " The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), today kicked off a major collaborative study that will investigate ways to screen, identify, and treat patients in hospital emergency departments for alcohol problems. Academic emergency medical departments (EDs) at 14 institutions throughout the U.S. will participate in the study, the first to rely solely on ED personnel, rather than research staff, to conduct the screening and intervention."  
  

Budget cuts put federal drug abuse aid at risk (Massachusetts)
April 5 Boston Globe story - "With New England in the midst of an epidemic of heroin use, Massachusetts is on the verge of forfeiting more than $9 million in federal aid for treating drug users, a penalty for three years of reductions in state spending on substance abuse services. Since the 2001 budget year, the state Department of Public Health has cut nearly $11 million from what it devotes to treating drug users and preventing narcotic and alcohol abuse. Governor Mitt Romney is proposing $2 million in additional reductions for the next budget year, although a representative of the governor said those cuts would not imperil essential services. Executives who run treatment centers and health care advocates said that the Department of Public Health cuts in combination with reductions in other state programs, particularly the MassHealth Basic insurance plan for the poor, have already spawned deep reductions in services..."