Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Panel rejects proposal to close, downsize VA hospitals
Gannett News Service story reprinted at the NAMI web site - "A federal commission formally rejected Friday Bush administration proposals to close the veterans hospital at Canandaigua and consolidate services at hospitals in Westchester and Dutchess counties. But the panel studying an overhaul of veterans health care nationwide also recommended that inpatient psychiatric units -- specialties at the VA's Canandaigua and Montrose hospitals -- be transferred to other facilities in their regions. Such action, however, should be delayed until the VA completes more studies on veterans' mental health needs, the commission said in a report to VA Secretary Anthony Principi..."  
  

Erasing Racial Data Erased Report's Truth
Opinion column in the Los Angeles Times by M. Gregg Bloche, who teaches law and health policy at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities - "Do black Americans receive poorer healthcare than whites? Two years ago, a National Academy of Sciences panel on which I served concluded that the answer was yes. At the behest of Congress, we had reviewed hundreds of research studies, gathered diverse views and issued a report documenting widespread racial disparity in dispensing medical care. ... But this report was never published. In its place, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a cheery rewrite touting administration successes and asserting that claims of minority groups receiving worse care than whites were unproved." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].  
  

Mental health reform called a challenge (North Carolina)
Fayetteville Observer story - "Cumberland County Mental Health Board members were told Monday that the county's mental health program may have a harder time implementing state reform than other counties. Janet Schanzenbach spoke to members of the Mental Health Board during a training retreat Monday. She is the deputy director for the N.C. Council of Community Programs, a private trade group. She said the county's mental health program will be responsible for monitoring all mental health service providers in the county when the reform plan goes into effect July 1. The county will be responsible for monitoring when a complaint is filed against the providers. In the past, the county has been responsible for monitoring only facilities with contracts with the Mental Health Center. Schanzenbach said the reform plan would quadruple the number of facilities monitored by the Mental Health Center."  
  

Mental health agency makes cuts, is trying to save services (Maryland)
Baltimore Sun story - "... Howard County's Mental Health Authority was created in 1997 to bring more local control to the delivery of mental health services to county residents. Similar organizations serve residents throughout Maryland. The agencies, which receive most of their funding from the state Mental Hygiene Administration, are managed in different ways. Typically, they do not provide clinical services but direct public and private funds to an array of providers and programs for the mentally ill. "  
  

Court Upholds Judges' Right to Compel Medication (New York)
New York Times story - "The state's highest court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a law that gives judges authority to force mentally ill people to comply with treatment. The statute, commonly known as Kendra's Law, was originally passed in 1999 after Kendra Webdale, 32, was killed when she was thrown in front of an oncoming subway train. The assailant was a man who had been found to be schizophrenic and prone to violence, but who did not take his antipsychotic medicine.  By passing the law, New York joined nearly 40 other states that had similar statutes, the state's Court of Appeals said in its decision..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].