General Articles
- Although it’s been 22 years since the deadliest terrorist attack in human history, many Americans may again re-experience painful memories of losing their loved ones on September 11. "With the anniversary of 9/11 right around the corner, many people are struggling with traumatic memories of the terrorist attack that shook the nation and changed the entire world," Dr. Lama Bazzi, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, told Fox News Digital. "Anniversaries of tragic events can serve as triggers for grief," he said, "that the individual thought was long resolved." Read more here.
- As the need for mental health care has surged, a specialized walk-in clinic in Maryland is serving as a model for other communities nationwide. It operates like an urgent care, but for all mental health needs for all ages. "I needed help then and there," said Pam Yerby Hammack, a former patient of the clinic. She described her struggle with mental health as sudden and traumatic. She says her daughter learned of Shepard Pratt's psychiatric urgent care through her insurance provider. The facility is open to all ages with no appointment necessary. Read more here.
- A smaller share of Gen Z is thriving compared to millennials at the same age, and members of Gen Z are far less likely to describe their mental health as “excellent,” according to a new study. “Less than half (47%) of Gen Z Americans are thriving in their lives — among the lowest across all generations in the U.S. today and a much lower rate than millennials at the same age,” a report from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation said. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- The number of prescription opioid pills shipped in the U.S. in the second half of the 2010s decreased sharply even as a nationwide overdose crisis continued to deepen, according to data released Tuesday. The decline in painkiller prescriptions — finally dropping below the quantities sold in the mid-2000s when the overdose epidemic accelerated — happened after state and federal governments tightened prescribing guidelines and state, local and Native American tribal governments sued the industry over the toll of the addictive drugs. Read more here.
- Birmingham, Ala., is seeing a high rate of overdose deaths and addiction among Black men. Officials blame fentanyl and a lack of addiction treatment. For years, white men have been the people most likely to die from an opioid overdose in this country. Now that's changing. The drugs are killing more Black men than ever before, largely due to the spread of fentanyl. This crisis is taking a toll on communities like Birmingham, Ala. Mary Scott Hodgin with member station WBHM in Birmingham and al.com reporter Cody Short talked to people impacted by the epidemic. Read more here.
- During the same week that naloxone — a nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses — became available for purchase without a prescription, the nation’s top substance use officials called for greater availability and training for the drug, with five federal officials receiving training to administer it during a public demonstration at Health and Human Services headquarters Friday. They received their training — which may have been at least partly ceremonial, given the medical background of some in attendance — ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration of several critical public health programs, including a sweeping 2018 opioid prevention law. Read more here.
- About 100,000 Americans die each year from overdoses, primarily caused by opioids like illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Fortunately, we have two treatments for opioid use disorder proven in multiple studies to reduce the death rate by 50 percent or more. These are methadone and buprenorphine. This data should make these drugs the gold standard for treatment. But a third medication—often promoted based on a pivotal trial that we now know missed some key overdose data—also vies for that position. Read more here.
- An effort to destigmatize the use of overdose reversal drugs that started as a pilot in two West Virginia counties has expanded to all thirteen states in Appalachia this year. The first-ever “Appalachian Save a Life Day” comes Thursday, on the heels of the approval of Narcan as drug that can be purchased over the counter for nonprescription use — a long-awaited victory towards normalizing and improving access to the decades-old, live-saving medication. More than 30,000 doses of naxolone, or Narcan, are being distributed in 13 states. Read more here.
- There are more than 800,000 people who are deaf or hard of hearing in Florida. Over the past year, calls to the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline have jumped by 30 percent in the Orlando area alone. As of Friday, the lifeline offers services in American Sign Language. Residents can make video calls and speak in ASL to trained counselors by clicking on the "ASL Now" button on the website or by dialing 1-800-273-TALK. In a few weeks, folks will also be able to dial 988 and directly have a video call with a counselor who uses ASL. Read more here.
- That model of using mental health professionals to respond to behavioral crises that would typically go through 911 is not unique to Minneapolis. Mobile crisis teams have been around for decades in places like Oregon, Arizona, and Georgia. Federal agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have praised these teams as essential to addressing mental health and substance abuse crises. In March 2022, the White House included them as a key pillar of its mental health Unity Agenda, investing almost $1 billion into community-based services that include mobile crisis response. Read more here.
- Louisianans have already made more than 26,000 calls to 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline that launched last summer, and a new grant-funded campaign aims to ensure all Louisianans who need it are picking up the phone. Why it matters: Louisiana saw 689 deaths by suicide in 2021, up from 642 in 2020, according to CDC data. Driving the news: The beginning of the Department of Health campaign is timed to coincide with National Suicide Prevention Week, which began Sunday. Read more here.
- The expected spike in poverty — particularly child poverty — between 2021 and 2022 shows the impact of letting major pandemic-era safety net program expansions expire, a policy experiment with no precedent in the U.S. Why it matters: The pandemic programs were enacted as temporary measures. But their expiration still stings for the Americans who experienced an economic boost only to lose it — and there's more to come. Read more here.
- This fall, Congress has an opportunity to address an issue that impacts the health and safety of many of our constituents. PFAS — commonly called “forever chemicals” since they do not degrade in the environment — have been found nationwide. We shouldn’t hesitate to deliver solutions that clean up and reduce risks posed by PFAS in a scientific, bipartisan, and responsible manner. Read more here.
- A growing body of research shows loneliness has profound implications for physical and mental health. People who are socially disconnected have a 29% higher risk of heart disease, a 32% greater risk of stroke and a 50% increased risk of dementia for older adults. Loneliness can increase the risk of premature death as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to a recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's office. The country is contending with an "epidemic of loneliness," according to that report — and the medicine to treat the problem is social connection. Read more here.
- Thirteen advocacy groups have jointly filed a civil rights complaint against Florida. The groups say Florida's process for redetermining Medicaid eligibility is unfair to recipients who are Latino, immigrant or Black. Some 431,000 Florida residents -- including many children -- have lost Medicaid since May, when the state began unwinding the continuing coverage mandated during the pandemic. The Kaiser Family Foundation says about half were no longer eligible. The other 49% were dropped for failing to complete the renewal process. Read more here.
State Bans on Gender-Affirming Care and Related LGBTQ Issues
- A new Florida law restricting health care for transgender people can still be applied to adults while it is being challenged in court, a federal judge ruled Monday. Judge Robert Hinkle, who previously blocked the law’s enforcement on behalf of minors, ruled that adults seeking to expand his injunction haven’t proven they would be irreparably harmed until the case is resolved. Read more here.
- Alabama families with transgender children asked a full appellate court Monday to review a decision that will let the state enforce a ban on treating minors with gender-affirming hormones and puberty blockers. The families asked all of the judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a three-judge panel decision issued last month. The panel lifted a judge’s temporary injunction that had blocked Alabama from enforcing the law while a lawsuit over the ban goes forward. Read more here.
- Florida is urging a federal appeals court to clear the way for a new law preventing transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy, citing a decision last month in a “virtually identical case” from Alabama. Attorneys for Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and state medical boards last week filed a 50-page brief arguing the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should overturn a preliminary injunction that U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued in June against the law and related rules. Read more here.
- Families and a pediatrician are challenging North Dakota’s law criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors, the latest lawsuit in many states with similar bans. Gender Justice on Thursday announced the state district court lawsuit in a news conference at the state Capitol in Bismarck. The lawsuit against the state attorney general and state’s attorneys of three counties seeks to immediately block the ban, which took effect in April, and to have a judge find it unconstitutional and stop the state from enforcing it. Read more here.
- Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Thursday that he has reached a deal with Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., to reauthorize and increase funding for several key health programs, but it’s unclear how much Republican support the agreement will have. The package, announced via a press statement early Thursday, will be marked up on Sept. 21 — just days before the authorizations are set to expire Sept. 30. Read more here.
- President Joe Biden is trumpeting Medicare’s new powers to negotiate directly with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications — but a poll shows that any immediate political boost that Biden gets for enacting the overwhelmingly popular policy may be limited. Three-quarters of Americans, or 76%, favor allowing the federal health care program for the elderly to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs. That includes strong majorities of Democrats (86%) and Republicans (66%), according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Read more here.
- California lawmakers voted Tuesday to put a proposal before voters next March that would overhaul how counties pay for mental and behavioral health programs in an effort to address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis. The bill authored by Democratic state Sen. Susan Eggman was passed by the state Assembly and will need one more vote in the Senate if it is to make the ballot. Read more here.
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