Category Archives: In The News

Low-income patients are more likely to face health insurance claims denials

Medical Economics (7/15, Shryock ) reports, “Low-income patients are more likely to have their health insurance claims denied and less likely to successfully challenge those denials than higher-income individuals, according to a study.” Investigators “found that patients from households earning less than $50,000 a year — as well as the health care providers who serve them — are significantly less likely to contest denied claims than those with higher incomes.” Moreover, “when they do challenge these denials, they are less successful in reversing them.” The findings were published in Health Affairs.

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— “Low-income patients face uphill battle when fighting health insurance denials, Umass research finds,”Todd Shryock, Medical Economics, July 15, 2025

ED visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome among adolescents increased more than 10-fold

MedPage Today (7/14, Henderson) reports a study found that U.S. “emergency department (ED) visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) among adolescents increased more than 10-fold in recent years, with increases observed regardless of states’ recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) status.” Researchers said that “from 2016 through 2023, CHS encounters among 13- to 21-year-olds increased by 49% per year, from 160.4 per million ED visits in 2016 to 1,968.3 per million in 2023.” Further, “CHS encounters increased by 32.5% per million ED encounters per year in states with RCL and by 49.3% per million per year in states without RCL.” They noted the “overall rate per million ED encounters for CHS was 1,909.5 in states with RCL and 834 in states without RCL.” The study was discussed in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Adding Anxiety As Qualifier For Medical Cannabis In Pennsylvania Increased Number Of Certifications, Study Suggests

HealthDay (7/11, Gotkine) reported a study suggests that “adding anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis in Pennsylvania was associated with an increase in certifications.” The researchers “examined whether Pennsylvania adding anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition to obtain medical cannabis in July 2019 was associated with changes in the distribution of qualifying conditions and the total number of certifications.” They observed “there was a rapid increase in the number of certifications issued per month, from about 11,000 certifications in June 2019 to 30,000 in December 2023, which were mostly related to increases in certifications for anxiety.” Researchers noted that “after the addition of anxiety, 60.26 percent of certifications were for anxiety, while 41.47 and 10.97 percent of certifications were for chronic pain and PTSD, respectively.” The study was discussed in research letter published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Adding Anxiety as Qualifier for Medical Cannabis Increases Number of Certifications,”Elana Gotkine
, Elana Gotkine/i>, July 11, 2025

Nicotine Poisonings In Babies And Toddlers Have Increased In Recent Years, Study Finds

NBC News (7/14, Edwards ) reports, “The number of young children sickened after getting their…hands on nicotine products like pouches and vape e-liquids has skyrocketed in recent years.” A study found that “from 2010 through 2023, U.S. poison centers reported 134,663 cases of nicotine poisonings among kids under age 6.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.

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— “Nicotine poisonings soar in babies and toddlers,”Erika Edwards, NBC News, July 14, 2025

Taking Metformin May Help Adolescents With Overweight Or Obesity Who Take Antipsychotic Medications Avoid Weight Gain, Research Finds

Psychiatric News (7/15) reports that “taking metformin may help” adolescents with overweight or obesity “who take antipsychotic medications avoid the weight gain commonly associated with the drugs, according to researchers.” The investigators said, “Based on our assessment…of the risks and benefits of adding [metformin] to a brief healthy lifestyle intervention among youth with [bipolar disorder] who have overweight or obesity, clinicians should strongly consider prescribing [metformin] in conjunction with [second-generation antipsychotics].” The findings (PDF) were published by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Related Links:

— “Metformin May Curb Weight Gain in Youth Who Take Antipsychotics,Psychiatric News, July 15, 2025

Loneliness Associated With Increased Risk Of Depression, Poor Health, Study Finds

HealthDay (7/10, Thompson ) reports a study found that “half of folks who say they always feel lonely (50%) have clinical depression, compared with just 10% of those who report never feeling lonely.” Researchers examined data “gathered between 2016 and 2023 as part of an annual government survey on health risks, involving more than 47,000 people. More than 80% of people surveyed reported some level of loneliness, but those with higher levels were more likely to suffer mentally and physically.” According to the results, “women had a higher likelihood of depression and poor mental health than men, across all levels of loneliness. On the other hand, Black people were less likely to suffer from depression and poor mental health because of loneliness than white individuals.” The study was published in PLOS One.

Related Links:

— “Loneliness Preys On Mental, Physical Health,”
Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, July 10, 2025

Gabapentin linked to increased risk of dementia, cognitive impairment

MedPage Today (7/10, George ) reports a study found that “gabapentin (Neurontin) prescriptions for chronic low back pain were linked with an increased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment.” Researchers found that “among more than 52,000 adults with chronic back pain who were followed for 10 years, those who had six or more gabapentin prescriptions had a higher incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment than those not prescribed gabapentin.” Researchers observed no heightened risk among patients aged 18 to 34 who were prescribed gabapentin, “but dementia risk was more than double and mild cognitive impairment risk more than triple among those ages 35 to 49. A similar pattern emerged among those 50 to 64 years old.” The study was published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

More evidence highlights health hazards of vaping

The New York Times (7/9, Blum) reports a recent study published in ACS Central Science found that the mist from popular vapes contains “such high levels of heavy metals that one researcher thought their machine had malfunctioned.” This follows other studies suggesting “vaping can affect the heart, lungs and brain.” Experts told The Times that “the liquids in e-cigarettes can release known carcinogens, like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, when heated. These and other chemicals can damage blood vessels, drive inflammation and contribute to cardiovascular disease risk.” Vaping can also lead to chronic inflammation in the airways and lungs, as well as exacerbating asthma and COPD symptoms. Research has also shown that “e-cigarettes are addictive. Dependence can be especially problematic for adolescents, whose brains are developing.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Review Questions Severity Of Withdrawal After Discontinuing Antidepressants

The New York Times (7/9, Barry) reports a systemic review and meta-analysis “found that a week after quitting antidepressants, patients reported symptoms like dizziness, nausea and vertigo,” but they mostly remained “below the threshold for clinically significant” withdrawal. Researchers criticized a 2019 UK study “that found that 56 percent of patients suffered from withdrawal symptoms” after discontinuing antidepressants for including “data from online surveys as a quantitative measure, for failing to control for the placebo effect, and for failing to distinguish between various types of antidepressants.” The new review, “based on 50 studies with more than 17,000 subjects,” found that “patients who had quit antidepressants were 5.5 times as likely to report dizziness, 6.4 times as likely to report vertigo and 3.1 times as likely to report nausea compared to placebo. But on average, the number of withdrawal symptoms had risen modestly, by only one compared with placebo, which is not considered clinically significant.” The review was published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (7/9) adds that “antidepressant discontinuation was not associated with greater depressive symptoms in the first two weeks compared with placebo, despite being measured in studies specifically examining major depressive disorder; this suggests that later presentation of depression symptoms is more likely to represent depression relapse, researchers wrote.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Adolescents Who Died By Firearm Suicide More Likely To Have Lived In Households With Unlocked Firearms, Study Finds

MedPage Today (7/8, Firth) reports a study found that “the odds of dying by firearm suicide were substantially lower for teens ages 15 to 20, but not for adults, when all firearms at home were locked.” In a study of 725 people who died by suicide, 83.6% died by firearms. Researchers observed that “adults who died by firearm suicide were no more likely than those who died by other suicide methods to have lived in a home with locked firearms or unloaded firearms.” However, “of decedents ages 15 to 20 years – classified as adolescents in this study – 26 of 43 (60.3%) who died by firearm suicide had lived in a home with unlocked firearms, but none of the seven adolescents who died by non-firearm suicide did.” Furthermore, “among adolescents living in homes in which all firearms were locked, the suicide method was not tied to whether any firearm was unloaded.” The studywas published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)