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Latest News Around the Web

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warns of risk from illegally-run online pharmacies

The Hill (1/9, Irwin ) says, “The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warned there’s a risk of ineffective or dangerous drugs from online pharmacies that are being illegally run.” In a report (PDF) that was “released Wednesday, the office singled out 19 countries that raised concerns of possible movement of counterfeit or pirated drugs.” Additionally, the office “released its Notorious Market List that focused on the growth in illicit online pharmacies.” The office “called on trading partners to improve criminal and border enforcement to combat counterfeit medicines.”

The AP (1/9, Kurtenbach ) says, “Nearly all of the world’s 35,000 online pharmacies are being run illegally and consumers who use them risk getting ineffective or dangerous drugs, according to the” report. It “named about three dozen online retailers, many of them in China or elsewhere in Asia that it said are allegedly engaged in selling counterfeit products or other illegal activities.” The new “report says 96% of online pharmacies were found to be violating the law, many operating without a license and selling medicines without prescriptions and safety warnings.”

Related Links:

— “US warns of risk from most of world’s online pharmacies,” Lauren Irwin, The Hill, January 9, 2025

Some Effective Public Policies For Suicide Prevention Are Not Crafted With Suicide Or Mental Health In Mind, Study Suggests

HealthDay (1/9, Thompson ) reports, “Some of the most effective public policies for suicide prevention aren’t crafted with suicide or mental health in mind, a new study says.” According to one researcher, “efforts to increase the minimum wage, prohibit gender discrimination, or reduce alcohol consumption ‘have spillover benefits in that they also prevent suicides.’” Those policies may “be more effective at preventing suicides than efforts to increase access to health care or limit firearms, researchers argue.” The findings were published in the Annual Review of Public Health.

Related Links:

— “The Public Policies That Really Help Prevent Suicide,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, January 9, 2025

US Has Highest Rate Of Overdose Deaths Out Of 30 Countries, Report Says

The Hill (1/9, O’Connell-Domenech ) reports that the US “has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths out of 30 countries, according to a new report from the health nonprofit the Commonwealth Fund.” While “overdose deaths in the U.S. dipped slightly around 2018 after a years-long” increase, “those deaths began to rise again in 2019 and shot up during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the” CDC. Meanwhile, “overdose deaths decreased slightly again in 2023 by 3 percent but still more than 100,000 people across the country died from an overdose, according to provisional CDC data.”

Related Links:

— “US overdose deaths far outpace other countries: Report,” Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, The Hill, January 9, 2025

Analysis Examines How Social Determinants Of Health Impact Suicidality

Psychiatric News (1/8) reports, “Individuals involved with the criminal justice system or recently released from incarceration are among those at greatest risk of suicide mortality, according to an ‘umbrella analysis.’” The “analysis of how social determinants of health affect suicidality also found that exposure to parental suicide, experiencing divorce or unemployment in mid-life, and accessibility to firearms were strongly associated with suicide mortality.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study Highlights Social Determinants Most Highly Associated With Suicide,” Psychiatric News, January 8, 2025

Symptoms Of Social Anxiety, Depression May Serve As Barrier To Seeking Or Maintaining Employment, Study Suggests

Psychiatric News (1/7) reports, “Symptoms of social anxiety or depression may serve as a barrier to seeking or maintaining employment, according to a study.” But, “working more hours may not by itself reduce depression or social anxiety symptoms.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice.

Related Links:

— “Addressing Adults’ Social Anxiety, Depression May Boost Employment Success,” Psychiatric News, January 7, 2025

Foundation News

Latest Foundation Radio PSA Examine How Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental Health

Hotter summers and more severe storms can seriously affect people with psychiatric disorders. Medicines prodded can make one more prone to heat stroke, and each degree rise in temperature has been shown to cause significant rises in hospitalizations for mental disorders. The Foundation covers this and more in their latest Public Service Announcement.

How Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental HealthHow Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental Health, MP3, 1.0MB

You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller to Receive MFP Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award

The 2024 Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry (MFP) Anti-Stigma Advocacy Prize will be awarded to Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller for her Personal Interview on May 23, 2023 with WBAL News.
Lt. Gov. Miller was very helpful, conveying to the public in a very personal way the impact of her father’s mental illness – not only on him, but on their family. Her experience also demonstrated that one can live through this kind of experience and still become very successful adults. She also made an important point that mental illness isn’t a moral failing, but is a chronic health condition.

The Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award will be formally presented at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting on April 18.

The Foundation established this annual prize for a worthy media piece, preferably local or regional, that accomplishes one or more of the following:

  • Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family member, or simply in the community.
  • Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental illness.
  • Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.

Click here for information about past winners.

PSA Examines Anxiety from Political and Social Media

The Foundation has re-released a Public Service Announcement to local Maryland radio stations that examines anxiety caused by political and social media. People experience a wide variety of feelings after a particularly divisive political campaign or a significant event getting 24 hour coverage across networks and online. Those feelings can include alienation from family and friends, anger at a system or event out of their control, and grief or helplessness at what may come. There are things that can be done to help, ranging from breaks from Facebook and TikTok and similar sites to seeking actual help from professionals.

Listen to the PSA on our home page or from our PSA collection, where you can listen to or download other advice given in past PSAs.

Call for Nominations for Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry presents an annual award to recognize a worthy piece published in a major newspaper or on public media that accomplishes one or more of the following:

· Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family member, or in the community.
· Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental illness.
· Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.

The article should be published or produced during the period from January 15, 2023 to January 9, 2024. A Maryland author and/or newspaper or major media outlet is preferred. Click here for past winners and published articles.

The award carries a $500 prize, which is given at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting in April. Please send nominations to mfp@mdpsych.org by January 10, 2024.

New Foundation Radio Spot Looks at Maryland’s Extreme Risk Protection Order

More than 2/3 of people who die from guns in the United States have their own finger on the trigger. A gun in the home increases the chance of a suicide there by three fold. The Maryland Extreme Risk Protection Order seeks to help mitigate that. This new radio spot from the Foundation examines how the order allows family, police, and clinicians to petition a judge to temporarily remove guns from the home of someone who is at risk for using them to harm themselves or others.

Gun Suicide Risk and Maryland LawGun Suicide Risk and Maryland Law, MP3, 1.1MB

You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.