HealthDay (4/21, Thompson) reports a study found that “people have a doubled risk of hospitalization for drug poisoning if benzodiazepines are added to their gabapentinoids,” and that “taking opioids with gabapentinoids is associated with a 30% increased risk.” Researchers observed that “about 9 out of 10 (89%) patients took an opioid alongside a gabapentinoid at some point during the study, while more than half (55%) took benzodiazepines alongside gabapentinoids.” They found the “highest risk of drug poisoning was found in the 90 days before people were prescribed gabapentinoids, suggesting that docs prescribed the drugs because they were concerned about opioid or benzo use.” The study was published in PLOS Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Less-Dangerous Painkiller Still Has High Risk For Drug Interactions,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 21, 2026

Psychiatry Advisor (4/21, Nye) reports a study found that “children and young adults with vs without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a higher prevalence of feeding, gastrointestinal (GI), sleep, and anxiety-related disorders.” The study included “1793 children and young adults…diagnosed with ASD, among whom 675 had 1 or more feeding, GI, sleep, and anxiety-related comorbidities.” Researchers noted that “higher rates for feeding and sleeping disorders were observed among younger children, boys, and White children,” while “higher rates for GI disorder were observed in middle-childhood, among girls, and White children.” Additionally, “higher rates for GI disorders were observed in middle-childhood, among girls, and White children.” The study was published in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care.

Related Links:

— “Feeding, Sleep, and Anxiety Disorders More Frequent in Youths With ASD,”Jessica Nye, Psychiatry Advisor , April 21, 2026

HealthDay (4/20, Thompson) reports a study suggests that naloxone “may not fully reverse ODs caused by synthetic opioids.” The researchers “tracked how naloxone worked among 30 patients fed a continuous drip of fentanyl or sufentanil until their breathing slowed. Of the patients, 12 had never used opioids and 18 were daily opioid users.” Study results indicated that “naloxone restored breath within 2 to 4 minutes across all participants, but its effects were diminished. Patients appeared to be awake and partially alert, but tests showed that their breathing had not fully recovered, researchers said.” Considering the results, “bystanders should be ready to give additional doses of naloxone if the first doesn’t restore an overdose victim’s breathing, researchers said.” The study was published in Anesthesiology.

Related Links:

— “Naloxone’s OD-Reversing Powers Challenged By Today’s Opioids, Tests Show,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 20, 2026

HealthDay (4/20, Thompson) reports a study found that teenagers who started using cannabis saw reduced “brain development across a range of skills, including memory, attention, language and processing speed.” The research team “tracked more than 11,000 children from 9 to 10 years of age until they were 16 and 17, following both their brain development and their substance use.” Results indicated that “teens who used weed had restricted development over time. In some cases, weed users performed just as well as – or even better than – others when they were younger, but fell behind as they grew older. Their progress leveled off, while their peers continued to improve. Researchers also found that THC levels in teenagers was related to worse memory over time, but not CBD levels.” The study was published in Neuropsychopharmacology.

Related Links:

— “Weed Blunts Brain Development In Teens,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay , April 20, 2026

HealthDay (4/17, Gotkine) reported a study found that “most parents of children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 years are unaware that the U.S. federal minimum legal age (MLA) for tobacco sales is 21 years.” The researchers “assessed knowledge of the MLA of sales for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigarettes, and nicotine pouches among U.S. parents of adolescents.” They found that “percentage of participants who correctly identified 21 years as the MLA of purchase for each substance was 47.1, 47.7, 46.7, and 81.6 percent for e-cigarettes/vapes, cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and alcohol, respectively. For each product, the most common incorrect response was age 18 years (39.8, 39.8, 35.6, and 9.1 percent for e-cigarettes/vapes, cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and alcohol, respectively).” The study was published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Parents of Children, Teens Unaware of Minimum Legal Age for Tobacco,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, April 17, 2026

In a letter to the editor of the New York Times (4/19), APA President Theresa M. Miskimen Rivera responds to a New York Times article about Idaho cutting services for people with schizophrenia, which led to deaths. Rivera writes, “As president of the American Psychiatric Association, I read [the] article with deep concern. The lesson is clear: When intensive, community-based supports for people with serious mental illness are withdrawn, they face heightened risk of crisis, hospitalization and death.” Rivera continues, “Further, these costs do not disappear. They only increase, shifting into psychiatric crisis units or inpatient units, emergency rooms, jails – and, most tragically, into preventable loss of life.” Rivera asserts, “Idaho’s experience is a stark warning of a broader failure unfolding across the country: the failure to treat mental health care as critical public health infrastructure.” Policymakers need to “recognize that sustained investment in community-based care is a public health necessity, not an option.”

Related Links:

— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Managed Healthcare Executive (4/15, Lutton) reports, “In 2024, the number of uninsured people in the United States rose for the first time since 2019, according to a recently published KFF issue brief.” The “shift was due to a number of factors, including a mix of policy changes, affordability issues and coverage disruptions, authors…explain in the brief.”

Related Links:

— “Uninsured rates in United States rise for first time since 2019,”Logan Lutton, Managed Healthcare Executive, April 15, 2026

Healio (4/15, Swain) reports, “People reporting a high level of loneliness, but not those with social isolation, had elevated risk for developing valvular heart disease, according to the results of a prospective cohort study.” One researcher said, “Our findings suggest that loneliness may be an independent and potentially modifiable risk factor for degenerative valvular heart disease. Identifying this new risk is an important step in potentially preventing valve disease, which can lead to heart failure, reduced quality of life and the need for valve replacement surgery.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “Loneliness tied to elevated risk for valvular heart disease,”Erik Swain, Healio, April 15, 2026

Psychiatric News (4/15) reports the latest Mental Heath Parity Index “starkly illustrates how patients across the country face greater barriers to accessing mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) care compared with physical health care – even though Congress requires insurers to treat the two equally.” The index “compares network composition and reimbursement rates for MH/SUD services and physical health services among the nation’s four largest insurers: Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare.” This year’s edition found that “in 42 states plus Washington, D.C., patients face a greater disparity in accessing in-network MH/SUD services compared with physical health services. Nationally, UnitedHealthcare has the greatest discrepancy, with 48% of the nation’s physical [healthcare professionals] in its network, compared with only 20% of MH/SUD” healthcare professionals.

Related Links:

— “Patients in Almost Every State Face Disparities in Accessing Mental Health Care, Psychiatric News, April 15, 2026

The Washington Post (4/14, Klein) reports on how cannabis impacts the brain, saying it “can affect your ability to retain information in the short term.” In a study published in JAMA Network Open, heavy lifetime cannabis “users exhibited lower brain activity during a working memory task compared with nonusers after excluding recent users.” Additionally, long-term cannabis use has “been associated with changes in brain volume,” especially “in people who started using cannabis in adolescence, when the brain was still developing.” Meanwhile, in a review published in The Lancet Psychiatry, “researchers found no help or harm from specific cannabinoids with relation to a number of mood-related concerns.” The review “also concluded there wasn’t enough data to study any potential effects on bipolar disorder or depression.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)