The Hill (6/19, Slaughter) reports, “Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told lawmakers his agency is stepping up efforts to prevent veteran suicides during testimony before a Senate panel Wednesday.” During testimony, Wilkie said, “Suicide is a national public health issue that affects communities everywhere. Just as there is no single cause of suicide, no single organization can end veteran suicide.” He added, “We must work side-by-side with our partners at all levels of government and in the private sector to provide our veterans with the mental health and suicide prevention services they need.”

Related Links:

— “VA chief pressed on efforts to prevent veteran suicides, “Brittany Slaughter, The Hill, June 19, 2019

TIME (6/20, Ducharme) reports a new analysis released by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reveals suicide rates in the US “are at their highest since World War II…and the opioid crisis, widespread social media use and high rates of stress may be among the myriad contributing factors.” The data indicate that in 2017, “14 out of every 100,000 Americans died by suicide” – a “33% increase since 1999.” In addition, the data show that “the male suicide rate was more than three times higher than the female rate,” but “female suicide rates are rising more quickly.” The analysis also reveals that for both men and women, “suicide rates are highest among American Indians and Alaska natives, compared to other ethnicities.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Suicide Rates Are the Highest They’ve Been Since World War II, “Jamie Ducharme, TIME, June 20, 2019

The AP (6/18, Tanner) reports in health surveys in 2016-2017 of almost 500,000 women in the US “7% of pregnant women, or 1 in 14, said they used marijuana in the past month,” compared to “a little over 3% in 2002-03.” The findings were published in JAMA and presented at a medical conference.

Medscape (6/18, Haelle, Subscription Publication) reports in a second study, “Canadian research reveals that such use comes with greater risk of preterm birth and several other poor perinatal and neonatal outcomes.” The second study was also published in JAMA. Michael Silverstein, MD, MPH, of Boston University School of Medicine, and two colleagues wrote in an accompanying editorial, “These two studies send a straightforward message: cannabis use in pregnancy is likely unsafe; with an increasing prevalence of use (presumably related to growing social acceptability and legalization in many states), its potential for harm may represent a public health problem.”

Related Links:

— “Marijuana use doubles in US pregnant women to 1 in 14, “Lindsey Tanner, AP, June 18, 2019

HealthDay (6/18, Reinberg) reports a study based on over one million California hospital records found nearly 20 percent of deaths among women who died within a year of giving birth were due to drug overdose or suicide from 2010 to 2012. The research also indicated “about 75% of those who died had visited an emergency department at least once after giving birth.” The research was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Drug Overdoses, Suicide Are Risk for New Mothers: Study, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, June 18, 2019

In a nearly 3,500-word piece, the AP (6/18) reports, “Suicide, long the leading cause of death in U.S. jails, hit a high of 50 deaths for every 100,000 inmates in 2014,” which was “the latest year for which the government has released data.” More and more, “troubling questions are being raised about the treatment of inmates in many jails, possible patterns of neglect – and whether better care could have stopped suicides.” Now, “a joint investigation by the Associated Press and the University of Maryland’s Capital News Service finds that scores of jails have been sued or investigated in recent years for allegedly refusing inmates medication, ignoring their cries for help, failing to monitor them despite warnings they might harm themselves or imposing such harsh conditions that the sick got sicker.”

Related Links:

— “Many US jails fail to stop inmate suicides, investigation reveals, AP, June 18, 2019