Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Ten-Years Later, Greater Access to Treatment Did Not Increase Cost of Depression
Business Wire story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Although the number of patients treated for depression increased significantly during the economic boom of the 1990s, the overall financial impact of the disease remained relatively stable, while quality of care often was inadequate. According to a ten-year follow-up study published in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, in 2000, the annual cost of depression (including major depression, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia) was $83 billion, up only 7% in inflation-adjusted terms, despite a more than 50% increase in the treatment rate since 1990..."  
  

Court: Drugs Can't Be Forced on Inmates (California)
AP story reprinted at Yahoo - "Mentally ill inmates cannot be forced to take anti-psychotic drugs, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday in a decision that affects hundreds of prisoners across the state. The 6-1 decision concerns California inmates who have done their time for their convictions but have been found to be mentally unfit for release to the community. Those inmates are housed at state mental institutions until they are deemed fit for return to the community. If they refuse anti-psychotic medication, the state cannot force them to take the drugs unless a judge authorizes it, the court ruled. A judge must find that the inmate is incompetent to refuse treatment and is immediate danger to himself or others..."  
  

Mobile Mental Health Care (New York)
Newsday story on "...an ambitious new program in Suffolk and Nassau counties to take mental health services to patients. ... [T]he mobile psychiatric clinic, available 24 hours a day, employs psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and occupational therapists who meet patients at their homes, in coffee shops and on the street. The doctors are able to prescribe medication and change follow-up treatment plans."  
  

Legislator Opposes Mental Health Closures (Nebraska)
Press-Dakotan story - "With the 2004 unicameral session starting this week, a northeast Nebraska lawmaker said Monday he will oppose legislation which would close regional mental health centers in Norfolk and Hastings in 2005. State Sen. Doug Cunningham of Wausa said he remains 'very adamantly against' the legislation, proposed by Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha. Jensen chairs the Health and Human Services (HHS) committee..."