Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Panel Probes FDA Moves on Antidepressant Risks
March 25 Reuters Health story at Medscape - "A U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating whether health officials issued timely warnings about a potential suicide risk in children treated with antidepressants, two leading Republicans said on Wednesday. The House Energy and Commerce Committee also is examining whether regulators, or Congress, should require additional precautions on the labels of the drugs, according to a letter from Reps. Joe Barton and Jim Greenwood. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday urged close monitoring of patients taking antidepressants for signs of worsening depression and suicidal thoughts."  
  

County workers fight privatization (New York)
Story in the Oneida Daily Dispatch - "Madison County mental health employees are working to build a community coalition to inform county residents about the county's proposal to privatize services. Upset over the potential contracting-out of mental health and chemical dependency treatment services, a group of employees represented by the Civil Service Employees Association have been meeting in the past few months to develop a strategy to inform community residents of what they could stand to lose if the county does decide to privatize..."  
  

Child Psychiatry Faces Workforce Shortage
Article in the March Psychiatric Times - "Many children today are receiving inadequate mental health care due to a decrease in the number of well-trained providers, while the prevalence of children's mental health problems is increasing. Legislation is pending in the U.S. House and Senate to address these issues..."  
  

Computer program may help save lives (Virginia)
Story in the Virginian-Pilot on a 10-minute computer program that "screens teens for mental-health problems by asking questions about self-esteem, drug and alcohol use, depression, suicidal thoughts. The idea is to catch mental-health problems in children and link the youngsters with services before those problems become critical."  
  

Mental Health Court steers defendants to treatment (Montana)
Story in The Missoulian - "In an attempt to keep mentally ill people out of prison and in treatment, several local judges are participating in a new Mental Health Court program. "Our jail is full; our prisons are full," District Judge John Larson said in a recent interview. 'The Department of Corrections at the state level is looking at other ways of dealing with these cases.' The idea is to get people the help they need, hopefully stabilizing them enough to help them stay out of trouble with the law. There will be a total of 24 slots in the program - eight allocated to Municipal Court, eight to Justice Court and eight to District Court. It's up to each judge whether he or she will participate, and treatment coordinator Mary Pierce was hired in September to arrange services for Mental Health Court clients through a contract with St. Patrick Hospital. Those services include everything from medications to therapy to help finding homes and jobs."  
  

Army lacks mental health support for soldiers in Iraq
Story at WorldLink.com - "The Army's first-ever survey of mental health in a combat zone showed that soldiers in Iraq last year suffered from low morale, high stress and holes in the Army's support system. In releasing survey results Thursday, the Army also said its mental health specialists in Iraq were constrained in helping distressed soldiers because of shortages of anti-depressant and sleeping drugs, inadequate training in combat stress control and ill-defined standards of care."  
  

Mental health plan has ambitious goals (Nebraska)
World-Herald story on the six preliminary plans submitted by regional officials - "The proposals are part of a statewide mental health restructuring effort that would phase out two of Nebraska's three state mental hospitals to free up money for more community-based services. Although Nebraska Health and Human Services officials are still sorting through the proposals, it appears that it could cost more than $56 million statewide to replace regional center services with community-centered services..."  
  

Ashtabula mental health workers reject strike (Ohio)
Story in the Plain Dealer - "Ashtabula- Employees of an agency that provides mental health services in Ashtabula County decided not to strike Monday as planned. About 40 employees of Community Counseling Center of Ashtabula County had previously issued a 10-day strike notice. The agency's staff voted Friday night not to follow through on the notice, said spokeswoman Sally Nelson on Monday. She said the decision means workers will agree to contract terms they dislike but can accept. She said a major concern among employees was what a strike would mean for clients. "  
  

Group targets mental health of county's poorest residents (Illinois)
Story in the Chicago Daily Herald - "In DuPage County, 230 physicians have agreed to treat uninsured, low-income patients in the doctors' private offices. But only a dozen psychiatrists are among them. That's a problem when one-third to nearly one-half of those patients are depressed, health officials say. And many are beginning to wonder if mental health care can help the poor live better and get off subsidies, just as general medical care has been proven to help people live longer..."