TODAY (5/27, Breen) reported, “In the aftermath of a mass casualty event” such as last week’s school shootings in Uvalde, TX, “blame swirls, often landing on…mental illness.” Research indicates, however, that “mental illness does not play a role in the vast majority of gun violence.” Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, President of the American Psychiatric Association, stated, “When horrible events happen that are unfathomable to our minds, we look for answers, and so one answer is that there must be something terribly wrong to lead somebody to act in such a way.” Dr. Brendel added, “(But) what we know is that persons with mental illness are much less likely to commit acts of violence than others.” What does drive “mass casualty shootings and gun death, said…experts interviewed for this story, is access to guns.”

Related Links:

— “Is mental illness really driving gun violence in the US? Here’s what the research says “Kerry Breen, TODAY, May 27, 2022

According to Healio (5/26, Hemphill), “borderline personality disorder [BPD] can be effectively treated by using the good psychiatric management approach, Lois W. Choi-Kain, MD, said” at the American Psychiatric Association 2022 Annual Meeting. BPD’s signs “are detectable early, and clinicians and families can help adolescents focus on interpersonal hypersensitivity as a vulnerability to manage.”

Related Links:

— “VIDEO: Manage hypersensitivity in adolescents with borderline personality disorder “Nancy Hemphill, Healio, May 26, 2022

STAT (5/26, Cohrs) reports, “A bipartisan group of senators working on mental health policy have proposed axing a requirement that would have restricted seniors’ access to services via telehealth, they announced Thursday.” Previously, “seniors had to have visited the same” clinician “in-person within the previous six months” before accessing telehealth. While “that requirement hasn’t technically gone into effect yet because emergency regulations are still in place due to the pandemic,” once “implemented, it could dramatically limit seniors’ options for mental health services.”

Related Links:

— “Key Senate panel wants to axe in-person requirement for virtual mental health services “Rachel Cohrs, STAT, May 26, 2022

HealthDay (5/26, Munez) reports, “Teens who have access to guns are at a higher risk for suicide or suicide attempts,” researchers concluded in a study that “analyzed data from more than 15,000 patients aged 14 to 18 years seen at a U.S. children’s hospital emergency department between June 2013 and March 2020.” The study also revealed that “more than 40% of those depressed teens have access to a gun.” The findings were published online May 14 in the journal Academic Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Guns in the Home Raise Suicide Risks for Teens “Cara Murez, HealthDay, May 26, 2022

MedPage Today (5/25, George) reports, “Midlife scores on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 – an assessment of physical activity, diet, obesity, smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar – were tied to dementia risk later in life, even in people at high genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” investigators concluded in findings published online in the journal Neurology. The study revealed that “across genetic risk profiles, higher midlife scores on Life’s Simple 7…were largely associated with reduced incident dementia.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (5/25, Ellis) reports, “Among children diagnosed with” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “low doses of” AD/HD “medications did not affect thyroid or growth hormone levels,” researchers concluded in a study that included “118 children diagnosed with” AD/HD. The findings were published online March 9 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Related Links:

— “Low-dose ADHD drugs do not affect thyroid function, growth hormone at 1 year “Brian Ellis, Healio, May 25, 2022

MedPage Today (5/25, Monaco) reports, “The COVID-19 pandemic spurred” clinicians “to get creative in their shift to telepsychiatry for patients with schizophrenia, a subanalysis of the OASIS study” revealed. In fact, “across all types of visits – from routine to crisis visits – the percentage conducted via telepsychiatry increased more than threefold during the pandemic among 35 sites across the country,” researchers concluded.

Healio (5/25, Hemphill) reports, “According to the study, 94% of the investigators said telepsychiatry maintained the standard of care for patients with schizophrenia who are being treated with” long-acting injectables (LAIs). The findings were presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2022 Annual Meeting.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (5/24, Marabito) reports, “Rural counties in the United States had lower odds of reaching maximum potential buprenorphine treatment capacity,” researchers concluded after using “county-level Drug Enforcement Administration…data to determine the presence, absence and availability of buprenorphine treatment or opioid treatment programs” in US counties. The study also revealed that “counties with high populations of people with disabilities or without insurance also had lower odds of maximum treatment capacity with buprenorphine, a medication for opioid use disorder.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the July issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Related Links:

— “Medication for opioid use disorder less accessible in rural counties “Maria Marabito, Healio, May 24, 2022

HealthDay (5/24, Thompson) reports, “The more that participants in mixed martial arts [MMA] spar in practice, the more likely they are to develop” white matter hyperintensities, that is, “brain structure changes that have been linked with brain injury,” investigators concluded. The magnetic resonance imaging study involving 92 professional MMA fighters also revealed that “more MMA sparring in practice is…associated with an increase in size of the caudate nucleus.” The findings were presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2022 Annual Meeting. Healio (5/24, Downey) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Show Signs of Brain Changes “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, May 24, 2022

Healthcare Finance News (5/23, Lagasse) reports, “The American Hospital Association has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asking it to investigate routine denials from major health insurance companies.” Furthermore, “the AHA recommended that the DOJ establish a task force ‘to conduct False Claims Act investigations into commercial health insurance companies that are found to routinely deny patients access to services and deny payments to health care providers.’” This “recommendation was based in large part on a recent report released by the” HHS OIG, titled, “Some Medicare Advantage Organization Denials of Prior Authorization Requests Raise Concerns About Beneficiary Access to Medically Necessary Care.” The report “garnered reaction from” American Medical Association President Gerald E. Harmon, M.D., who said the report “uncovered information that mirrors physician experiences.” He added, “Surveys of physicians have consistently found that excessive authorization controls required by health insurers are persistently responsible for serious harm when necessary medical care is delayed, denied, or disrupted.”

Related Links:

— “AHA presses Department of Justice to investigate routine denials from health insurers “Jeff Lagasse, Healthcare Finance News, May 23, 2022