The AP (4/13, Miller) reports President Biden “announced Thursday that hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children will now be able to apply for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges.” His decision “will allow participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, to access government-funded health insurance programs.”

The Washington Post (4/13, Goldstein) reports the move, “which the White House says would benefit up to 580,000 people brought to the United States as children, would broaden the definition of who qualifies for those two insurance programs and one other.”

The New York Times (4/13, Kanno-Youngs) a “White House statement said it expected ‘to get this done by the end of the month.’”

Related Links:

— “Biden says he’s expanding some migrants’ health care access “Zeke Miller, Amanda Seitz and Michael Balsamo , AP, April 13, 2023

Healio (4/13, VanDewater) reports, “Suicidality was associated with weakened positive affect reactivity during conversation, which may explain the link between suicidality and social disconnection,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 228-participant study presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America Annual Conference.

Related Links:

— “Emotions after socialization may explain link between suicidality, social disconnect “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, April 13, 2023

According to CNN (4/13, McPhillips), in 2021, “the suicide rate in the United States returned to a near-record high…reversing two years of decline.” In fact, “final data” for that year show that “suicide was the 11th leading cause of death nationwide, with more than 14 deaths for every 100,000 people.” While “the death rate has increased 32% over the past two decades…the 4% jump between 2020 and 2021 was the sharpest annual increase in that timeframe.” The findings were published online April 13 in the CDC’s NCHS Data Brief No. 464.

Related Links:

— “Suicide rises to 11th leading cause of death in the US in 2021, reversing two years of decline “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, April 13, 2023

USA Today (4/12, Alltucker) reports, “The Biden administration’s drug czar on Wednesday announced that illicit fentanyl spiked with the animal tranquilizer xylazine is an ‘emerging threat,’ a designation that will allow the federal government to marshal resources to counteract the street drug combination found in most states.” This marks “the first time the United States has declared a drug such a threat, a category enabled by a 2018 federal bill, said” Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, FACP, MBA. Gupta “said his office is seeking $11 million to help create a strategy to stop its spread, develop an antidote and research how it has gotten into the drug supply, according to the Associated Press.”

The Hill (4/12, Weixel) reports the drug “Xylazine, also known as ‘tranq,’ is an easily accessible veterinary drug approved for use in animals as a sedative and pain reliever.” However, “it is also being used by drug dealers as a low-cost cutting agent in drugs like fentanyl as a way to extend a user’s high.”

Related Links:

— “Animal ‘tranq’ xylazine is becoming a deadly threat. Here’s how the US is trying to stop it. “Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, April 12, 2023

Healio (4/12, Bascom) reports, “Though popular dietary interventions that include polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs, and elemental metals do not seem to alleviate perinatal depression, vitamin D may be promising in this regard,” investigators concluded in a 36-study, 7,010-participant systematic review and meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online April 3 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In particular, “vitamin D taken in daily doses of 1,800 to 3,500 international units offered small to medium effect size improvements for postpartum depression,” but “further research is needed to assess causal interactions of dietary interactions on perinatal anxiety or depression.”

Related Links:

— “Vitamin D may be effective treatment for perinatal depression “Emma Bascom, Healio, April 12, 2023

Medscape (4/12, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) appears to have a small advantage over ketamine for improving depressive symptoms in adults with a major depressive episode,” researchers concluded in the findings of a five-study, 278-patient systematic review and meta-analysis published online April 12 in a brief report in JAMA Psychiatry. HCPlive (4/12, Walter) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

CNN (4/11, McPhillips) reports on a Kaiser Family Foundation survey that found nearly one in five US “adults has had a family member killed by a gun, including in homicide and suicide.”

In separate coverage of the same survey, NPR (4/11, Simmons-Duffin) reports the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can help people who are contemplating suicide.

Kaiser Health News (4/11, Szabo) reports, “The national survey of 1,271 adults conducted by KFF revealed the severe physical and psychological harm exacted by firearm violence, especially in minority communities.”

Related Links:

— “Gun violence has affected most families in the US, new survey finds “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, April 11, 2023

Psychiatric News (4/11) reports, “The anniversary of a parent’s death appears to be associated with an increased risk of suicide among women,” investigators concluded in a “case-crossover study” that relied on “linked data from 1990 to 2016 from multiple Swedish registers.” The study team “focused their analysis on” 7,694 “adults aged 18 to 65 who had experienced the death of a parent and later died of suicide.” The findings were published online April 11 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Anniversary of Parent’s Death Linked to Increased Suicide Risk in Some Adult Children, Psychiatric News, April 11, 2023

According to HealthDay (4/11, Mozes), “research suggests that opioid prescription rates and suicide risk appear to go hand-in-hand” because suicide risk appears to decrease “as prescription rates fall.” Researchers came to this conclusion after examining “U.S. federal government data collected between 2009 and 2017 on opioid-related deaths” and cross-referencing the data “with information that tracked opioid prescription patterns over the period.” The findings were published online April 11 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Curbing Opioid Prescriptions Won’t Raise Suicide Rates: Study “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, April 11, 2023

The New York Times (4/10, Ghorayshi) reports, “In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that boys were 4.7 times as likely as girls to receive an autism diagnosis,” but “by 2018, the ratio had dipped to 4.2 to 1.” A March 24 analysis published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that was “based on the health and education records of more than 226,000 eight-year-olds across the” U.S. revealed that “the figure was 3.8 to 1.” And: “ For 2020, one in 36 children aged 8 years (approximately 4% of boys and 1% of girls) was estimated to have ASD.”

Related Links:

— “More Girls Are Being Diagnosed With Autism ” Azeen Ghorayshi, The New York Times, April 10, 2023