Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Consumer Group Asks FDA to Reject Vagal Stimulator for Depression Reuters Health story at
Medscape - "Cyberonics Inc.'s request to market an implantable vagal nerve stimulator for treating chronic depression should be rejected by U.S. authorities, consumer group Public Citizen said on Wednesday. In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, the group said Cyberonics had not proved the device was effective or safe for depressed patients. The company's studies provided little evidence that the device helped relieve chronic depression, Public Citizen said. Plus, concerns about worsening depression, suicide attempts and sudden deaths in the trials have not been fully investigated, the group said." [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Dispelling stigmas of mental illness (New York) Journal News story on artist George Williams and "In Our Own Voices: Living with Mental Illness" - "... a new public education program sponsored by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Westchester, Inc. Every few weeks, Williams and other speakers talk to different groups of people about the real faces of mental illness. Along with dispelling stigmas, the discussion is meant to demonstrate that mental illness is a medical brain disorder that can be controlled with medication and therapy..."
FDA goes straight to press USA Today opinion column by Scott Gottlieb, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who was director of medical policy development at the Food and Drug Administration in 2003-04 - "...The FDA made a splash, through a press release, about new labeling to warn patients about an unapproved use of these atypical antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of symptoms of dementia. The approach echoed the one the FDA took with a recent "public health advisory" about a category of popular painkillers. That warning, which covered drugs such as Aleve and Advil, sent a wave of worry across the country as patients who didn't know better wondered whether they faced an increased risk of heart attacks. The problem with both warnings is the agency's message went to the media before reaching practicing physicians. My patient's misguided fears are not unique. It is what happens when medical regulation is enforced through the press."
State Medicaid Developments Item in the
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report on recent developments in Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and New Hampshire, with links to related news stories.
Mental health treatment center evaluates inmates (New Mexico) Valencia County News-Bulletin story - "For the past year, inmates serving state prison time and in need of mental health treatment are being treated at the new, state-of-the-art facility in Los Lunas. Construction of the new 104-bed Mental Health Treatment Center, located at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas, was completed last February. The 58,000-square-foot facility is the first unit in the state that is designed specifically for mental-health treatment. ... David Wells, assistant mental health bureau chief and staff manager of the MHTC, says the center's main objective is to receive and treat inmates who have been identified at other prison facilities as not being able to function adequately in that population because of suspected mental disorders."
Talks bring possible reprieve for clinic (Maine) Portland Press Herald story - " The state and a financially troubled mental health clinic are trying to find a way to keep the clinic open. The Portland Help Center says dwindling state funds mean it will have to close. ... The agency, one of many run by Spurwink to address mental illness and developmental disabilities, said it will have to close June 30 because of a shrinking state grant that pays for uninsured patients. Medicare and Medicaid pay for the others."
