Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Medical Journal Calls for a New Drug WatchdogNew York Times story - "The United States needs a better system to detect harmful effects of drugs already on the market, and it should be independent of the Food and Drug Administration and the drug industry, medical researchers and journal editors said yesterday. Arguing that it was unreasonable to expect the same agency that approves drugs to 'also be committed to actively seek evidence to prove itself wrong,' the editors of The Journal of the American Medical Association recommended that the nation consider establishing an "independent drug safety board" to track the safety of drugs and medical devices after they were approved and in widespread use..." [Viewing
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Congress Completes Work on Omnibus Spending Bill for FY 2005Legislative update at the NAMI web site - "As is being widely reported in the press, over the weekend Congress approved a massive $388.4 billion "omnibus" spending package for the current fiscal year and then adjourned for the year. The omnibus spending package includes funding for 14 cabinet departments and dozens of agencies, including mental illness research and services, housing and veterans' programs. President Bush is expected to sign the bill later this week..."
Children Left BehindWashington Post editorial - "Deficit spending didn't bother the Bush administration when the issue was tax cuts. Congress had no trouble finding "savings" to supposedly offset new costs when the costs were in a corporate tax bill stuffed with special-interest provisions. But when it comes to health care for poor children, different, stricter rules seem to apply. This week's lame-duck Congress is poised to leave town without taking any action to restore $1 billion in federal funding for children's health care that wasn't used before its Sept. 30 expiration and therefore reverted to the Treasury. Republican lawmakers say they don't oppose renewing the funding but insist that it has to be paid for with cuts elsewhere. The result is that some 200,000 low-income children will be at risk of losing health coverage in the next three years." [Viewing
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State Tactics Aim to Reduce Drug SpendingFeature story in the
New York Times - "Alarmed at soaring pharmaceutical costs, states are trying a wide range of new tactics to curb spending on prescription drugs for Medicaid recipients, public employees, prisoners and other residents, bringing them into lobbying combat with the drug industry. A dozen states have joined purchasing pools in an attempt to use market power to reduce costs. Dozens more are requiring Medicaid recipients to use generic or lower-priced drugs from preferred lists..." [Viewing
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HHS Awards $12.5 Million to Support Statewide Family Network and Consumer Network GrantsPR Newswire press release at
Yahoo - "Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the award of 19 grants totaling $3.9 million over three years for statewide consumer network grants that facilitate involvement by consumers of mental health services in the development of mental health programs, and 43 grants totaling $8.5 million over three years for statewide family network grants that involve families in mental health policies and programs affecting their children. Both the statewide consumer and statewide family network programs are designed to support state level organizations in the development of policies, programs and quality assurance activities involving mental health services."
Comparison of Statewide Emergency Mental Health Preparedness PlansBrief story in
Medical News Today (UK) - "State mental health services agencies were unprepared for the fear, anxiety and uncertainty felt by many in the days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In response, a detailed mental health emergency preparedness plan for every state was created with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and other government entities. Researchers from Temple University's department of public health recently completed a pilot study of these plans for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia."
Area's mental-health care providers say hallelujah to Codey's initiative (New Jersey)Princeton Packet story - "Mental-health care providers and advocates welcomed a new state task force as a watershed moment in dealing with a system that often fails its most vulnerable members. 'My reaction is, 'Hallelujah,' ' said Rich McDonald, the director of the Association for Advancement of Mental Health in West Windsor. 'It has been very difficult over the years to get the needs of the chronically and seriously mentally ill addressed in a serious manner.' Acting Gov. Richard Codey's first officials action after taking office Tuesday was to sign an executive order creating an 11-member mental-health task force that will develop recommendations to improve the lives of the mentally ill. ... Mary Pawlikowski, the chief operating officer of Carrier Clinic in Montgomery, said she plans to follow the task force's work very closely. Some key issues Ms. Pawlikowksi hopes the task force will address include providing greater access to a full continuum of services regardless of a patient's ability to pay."
Panel hopes to push reform in Michigan mental health systemDetroit Free Press story - "A former state mental health director says he wouldn't want a member of his own family to enter a state institution if they needed help today. 'We used to be considered a leader," C. Patrick Babcock says of the state mental health system's national reputation. "Now we are considered to be the bottom of the barrel.' Babcock, who ran the state Department of Mental Health under Democratic Gov. James Blanchard in the 1980s, is among those trying to change that." See also, at the same source,
Findings of the Michigan Mental Health Commission.
