The Wall Street Journal (6/13, Palazzolo, Subscription Publication) reports that the Obama Administration’s proposal to accelerate the use of mental health records in the national gun background-check database has encountered resistance from medical groups and states. The plan, under which the Department of Health and Human Services would amend a Federal privacy rule, has been opposed by medical groups who contend the plan is unnecessary and could adversely affect doctor-patient relationships. Groups such as the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have expressed concerns. HHS spokeswoman Rachel Seeger indicated that the agency will consider the medical groups’ positions as it considers what to do next on the issue.

Related Links:

— “Medical Groups Push Back at Gun-Law Change, The Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2013.

Medscape (6/11, Harrison) reports, “In a new analysis of the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study, investigators from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas found that work productivity improved in several domains when depressive symptoms remitted early in depression treatment.” However, “workers who did not achieve symptom remission until later stages of treatment continued to have impaired productivity,” according to the 1,928-patient study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

The Los Angeles Times (6/10, Gorman) reports, “Officials expect many newly insured patients arriving at doctor’s offices and urban and rural clinics to have mental health complications.” Starting “next year, some 2.3 million additional people may require mental health services through Medicaid…according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry,” a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. “Failing to diagnose and treat mental problems early can lead to far costlier visits to emergency [departments] and hospitals later.”

Related Links:

— “Treatments of physical and mental health are coming together, “Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2013.

In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal (6/8, A1, Fields, Subscription Publication) reported, in a 2,000-word article, that some states are rethinking laws intended to protect the privacy of persons with mental illnesses. Some family members of individuals with mental illnesses are pushing for changes. People who advocate for persons with mental illness are divided over how to maintain patient rights and simultaneously ensure the safety of the public.

Related Links:

— “Families of Violent Patients: ‘We’re Locked Out’ of Care, “Gary Fields, The Wall Street Journal, June 07, 2013.

Medscape (6/7, Meville) reports, “There is a ‘striking discrepancy’ between the perceived knowledge of college-level trainers and their competence in managing athletes with mental health disorders,” according to a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine 60th Annual Meeting. After surveying 211 trainers at NCAA member schools, researchers found that “overall, 70% of the athletic trainers reported feeling competent to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders and make appropriate referrals.” But, “when competence in the use diagnostic criteria for mental health disorders was assessed, only 44.0% clearly understood the issues, and only 23.5% of respondents reported knowing Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Fourth Edition, Text Revision norms.”

HealthDay (6/7, Preidt) reports, “More than half of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also suffer from depression,” according to a review published online this month in the Journal of Traumatic Stress. Investigators “reviewed the findings of 57 studies that included more than 6,600 civilians and military personnel who suffered from PTSD and found that 52 percent of them also had symptoms of depression.”

Related Links:

— “Depression Common in Those With PTSD, Study Finds, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 06, 2013.

The Los Angeles Times (6/6, Terhune) reports that a new study, released Thursday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that “U.S. consumers who purchase their own health insurance saved $2.1 billion last year due to tougher rules in the federal healthcare law.” According to the report, “individual premiums would have been $1.9 billion higher in 2012 without the requirements in the federal Affordable Care Act. In addition, the nonprofit group said individual policyholders nationwide should receive $241 million in rebates this summer.”

Related Links:

— “Health law led to $2.1 billion in savings for consumers, report says, “Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times, June 06, 2013.

Bloomberg News (6/5, Robertson) reports that while “hospitals in the U.S. pledge to keep a patient’s health background confidential,” states including Washington and New York “are putting privacy at risk by selling records that can be used to link a person’s identity to medical conditions using public information.” The article explains, “the potential for a patient’s hospital record to be made public by anyone buying data compiled by states adds to ways privacy is vulnerable in an age of digitized health record keeping and increasingly sophisticated hacking.” Still, “the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, which investigates HIPAA violations, has not received complaints about companies identifying patients, said Rachel Seeger, a spokeswoman for the agency.”

Related Links:

— “States’ Hospital Data for Sale Puts Privacy in Jeopardy, “Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg News, June 04, 2013.

In a lengthy segment on the CBS Evening News (6/4, story 7, 4:10, Pelley), CBS News correspondent Seth Doane followed one family’s struggle to help their “mentally ill child…prone to violence.” The Lammers family discussed how they tried everything to help their son Blake, who by the age of 18 had already been twice placed in a mental hospital for four-day stays. While doing the laundry, Blake’s mother found a receipt for an AR-15 assault weapon he had purchased legally. Because had never been committed by a court to a psychiatric hospital, his background check had revealed no record of his mental health history. When Blake revealed he had plans to use the assault weapon at a local movie theater, his mother turned him in. Blake, now 21, is in jail, currently facing three felony counts. While worried that he is not receiving the treatment he needs in jail, the Lammers family is thankful they were able to intervene before Blake could carry out his plan.

Psychiatric News (6/5) reports that on June 3, “President Obama and Vice President Biden held a White House conference on mental health.” In attendance was American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, APA president-elect Paul Summergrad, MD, Jeffrey Borenstein, MD, editor-in-chief of Psychiatric News, former member of Congress Patrick Kennedy. “After the conference, these participants, as well as APA Medical Director James H. Scully Jr., MD, hosted a press conference to discuss some of the pressing issues in mental health care.” At the press conference, APA representatives discussed the Federal mental health parity law “which still does not have a final rule to ensure that insurance companies follow the law.” The representatives also discussed the fact that many people in the US mistakenly believe that people with mental illnesses are violent. Finally, the representatives discussed the issue of combating stigma.

Related Links:

— “APA Representatives Hold Press Conference in Wake of White House Meeting,Psychiatric News, June 04, 2013.