Tuesday, July 27, 2004

New ER Data Show Huge Jump in Abuse of Oxycodone, Hydrocodone
PR Newswire release reprinted at PsycPORT - "Forty percent of the 119,000 mentions of narcotic pain medications in emergency rooms involved either oxycodone or hydrocodone in 2002, according to a new report released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The DAWN Report on 'Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and Polydrug Use, 2002' is based on data from SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which tracks drug-abuse related mentions of various substances in hospital emergency rooms..." See also the SAMHSA report.  
  

Immigrant's Tale of Navigating Tangled Health Care Maze Is Instructive
New York Times story on "...the flaws in a health care system that all too often can seem broken to those without insurance - riddled with cracks and complications that are compounded when cultural taboos and language barriers are thrown into the mix. For the most vulnerable, emergency rooms are the place of first resort. At least there they are assured treatment. Once discharged, they often have no contact in the medical community and become lost in a system that can barely handle the problems on its doorstep looking to come in, much less those already sent back outside. Hospitals feel overwhelmed, and patients feel as if they are treated not as people but as problems. Confusion about coverage is the rule, and basic communication is often imperfect." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Checking Up on Children's Health Coverage: A Progress Report on Medicaid and SCHIP
New reports and resources from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured - "At a July 23, 2004 Washington, DC policy briefing two new Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured reports show State Children's Health Insurance Program enrollment declined in the second half of 2003 and examine what led to Texas' enrollment decline." Reports available from this page (all in Adobe Acrobat format) include SCHIP Program Enrollment: December 2003 Update, Children’s Medicaid and SCHIP in Texas: Tracking the Impact of Budget Cuts and Update on the Florida Enrollment Freeze. See also the related press release.  
  

Where Justice and Mercy Meet (New York)
Village Voice article - "For mentally ill people who commit a serious felony, there have long been just two options: Go to prison, or enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Defendants who choose the latter have been confined indefinitely at places like Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, the maximum-security hospital on Wards Island, where they can languish for years, maybe even the rest of their lives. Today, mentally ill people arrested in Brooklyn have a third choice: They can try to get their case heard in Mental Health Court, where the primary objective is to place people in treatment programs—not prison.."  
  

Mental health care a concern (Indiana)
South Bend Tribune story on "...the state's recent move to reduce bed space at its juvenile mental health hospitals, a policy that parallels the closure of adult mental hospitals over the past decade -- in Indiana and nationwide. The idea was to integrate the mentally ill into the mainstream of society. However, a corresponding increase in funding for community-based services has not followed. That, combined with the cost-containment emphasis of managed care, has put mental health care out of reach for many families. The result is more juveniles who don't receive adequate mental health treatment until they commit an offense that forces them into the justice system, when the bulk of the cost for their care falls on the county. Parents are charged fees, often depending on their income, but what they cannot pay is picked up by taxpayers."  
  

State prisoners sue for better mental health care (New Hampshire)
Boston Globe story - "Six New Hampshire State Prison inmates are suing the state for not providing adequate mental health care. They accuse the state of leaving suicidal maximum-security prisoners in empty rooms for more than 24 hours without beds or toilets. They also claim mental health programs are understaffed and that inmates can go for months or years without treatment. The lawsuit also faults the department for failing to create a residential treatment unit for mentally ill inmates and not installing a computerized data management system for the mental health unit."  
  

Gazette editor honored for writing on mental health (Montana)
Billings Gazette story - "Pat Bellinghausen, Gazette opinion editor, has been honored by the American Psychological Association for her years of work in writing about mental illnesses and public policy. The the 2004 News Media Recognition Award will be presented Thursday by the Media Psychology Division at the APA annual convention in Honolulu. The News Media Recognition Award was developed by the News Media, Public Education, Public Policy Committee of the Media Division to recognize excellence in the reporting of psychological research and information. .."