Bloomberg Law (4/8, Anne Pazanowski , Subscription Publication) reports the Department of Health and Human Services said it will follow a federal judge’s order and block plans to cease $11 billion in public healthcare grants to 23 states and Washington, DC. On April 3, US Judge Mary S. McElroy “granted the mostly Democratic-led states’ motion for a temporary restraining order in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island.” Although HHS filed a notice of compliance Monday, “saying it would notify all its departments, employees, and contractors of the order,” the agency also “filed an emergency motion for reconsideration the same day, saying McElroy should have considered whether she had jurisdiction under the Administrative Procedure Act before entering the TRO.” McElroy explained in an April 5 opinion “that the states were likely to win on the merits of their challenge because HHS didn’t reasonably end the grants or provide a reasonable explanation for doing so.”

Related Links:

— “HHS to Restore States’ Public Health Funds to Comply With Order,”Mary Anne Pazanowski, Bloomberg Law, April 8, 2025

Psychiatric News (4/8) reports a study suggests that providing comprehensive care “increases the likelihood that inpatients with opioid use disorder (OUD) will not only initiate medications for OUD during hospitalization but connect with OUD care after discharge.” Researchers analyzed data from a clinical trial of the Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Team (START) addiction consult service, which is a “collaborative care model in which an addiction medicine specialist and a case management team provide a tailored intervention based on motivational interviewing, addiction-focused discharge planning, and one month of follow-up calls.” They found that “57.3% of patients receiving START initiated medications for OUD while they were hospitalized, compared with 26.7% of those who received usual care. In addition, 72% of START participants attended at least one OUD-related care visit within 30 days of discharge, compared with 48.1% of those who received usual care.” The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Comprehensive Care Improves Chances of Hospitalized Patients Starting OUD Medications, Psychiatric News, April 8, 2025

Neurology Advisor (4/7, Lopez) reports, “Greater physical activity levels and less sedentary behavior protect against the risk of developing neuropsychiatric diseases, according to study results presented at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting.” Researchers found that “moderate to vigorous physical activity energy expenditure had a protective effect against neuropsychiatric diseases, while increased sedentary behavior was a risk factor.” Specifically, they noted that “proteomic and metabolic analyses confirmed the significant effect of physical activity on the peripheral biomarkers, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and integrin alpha V (ITGAV) proteins. Inflammation and metabolic processes were shown to mediate the relationship between physical activity and risk of neuropsychiatric diseases.”

Related Links:

— “Greater Physical Activity May Lower Risk for Neuropsychiatric Diseases,”Maria Arini Lopez, Neurology Advisor, April 7, 2025

The AP (4/7, Johnson) reports a study found that healthcare “systems can reduce suicides through patient screening, safety planning and mental health counseling.” The “Zero Suicide Model,” developed in 2021 at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, focuses on “collaborating with patients to reduce their access to lethal means such as firearms and then following up with treatment.” For all of 2009, “the health system saw no suicides among patients. The researchers then studied what happened when a different health system, Kaiser Permanente, adopted the program in four locations from 2012 through 2019.” They found that “suicides and suicide attempts fell in three of the locations, while the fourth maintained a low rate of suicides and attempts.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Suicides and attempts fall in health systems implementing the ‘Zero Suicide Model,’ study finds,”Carla K. Johnson, AP, April 7, 2025

HealthDay (4/4, Thompson ) reported that “more than half of Americans have experienced some such form of discrimination, and this mistreatment dramatically increases their risk of depression or anxiety, a new study says.” According to the study, “nearly 56% of Americans have encountered discrimination in their lives, and almost 4% said they’d experienced high levels of discrimination.” Additionally, results show that “those exposed to high levels of discrimination are five times more likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and nearly nine times more likely to screen positive for both mood disorders.” Discrimination was most common among Black Americans, multiracial people, “women, immigrants and people with disabilities or obesity, researchers said.” Researchers concluded, “Our results are a powerful reminder that discrimination is everyone’s issue – and addressing it benefits society as a whole.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Discrimination Dramatically Increases Risk for Depression, Anxiety,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 4, 2025

HealthDay (4/3, Thompson ) reports a study found that “teenagers who spend more time on screens tend to get worse sleep, both in terms of sleep quality and duration.” While screen time “caused teens to put off sleep until later hours, affecting their wake/sleep cycles,” sleep disturbances are only linked to “later depression symptoms in girls,” but not boys. Specifically, “depression symptoms among girls were more than twice those of boys, a gender difference that’s been found in earlier studies, researchers reported. Results also showed that 38% to 57% of girls’ depression symptoms could be explained by changes in sleep patterns driven by screen use.” Researchers concluded, “The public health recommendation to promote sleep by means of changing screen-related behaviors is…supported by this study.” The study was published in PLOS Global Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Screen Time Linked To Poor Sleep, Depression Among Teen Girls,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 3, 2025

Fierce Healthcare (4/2, Minemyer ) reports, “Enrollment on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges has more than doubled over the past several years, with much of that growth coming from red states, according to a new report.” KFF “analysts…found that enrollment in marketplace plans reached 24.3 million for 2025, up from 11.4 million in 2020,” which is “growth of 113% for those five years, the researchers said.”

Related Links:

— “ ACA exchange enrollment has skyrocketed since 2020, with most of the growth in red states: KFF,”Paige Minemyer, Fierce Healthcare, April 2, 2025

Psychiatric News (4/2) reports a study suggests that “starting most hormonal contraceptives in the first year postpartum may raise the risk of depression even among first-time mothers with no recent history of the disorder.” Researchers determined there was “a 49% higher risk of depression among hormonal contraceptive users compared with nonusers, after adjusting for factors.” Moreover, the “prevalence of postpartum depression was 1.54% among all women, which the researchers calculated would have been 1.36% had no one taken contraceptives.” The risk also “varied by type of hormonal contraceptive: Compared with nonuse, levonorgestrel-releasing IUDs raised risk of depression by 27% during the study period, progestogen-only nonoral contraceptives by 40%, combined-hormone pills by 72%, and combined-hormonepatches and vaginal rings by 97%.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Taking Hormonal Contraception Postpartum May Raise Risk of Depression, Psychiatric News, April 2, 2025

The New York Times (4/2, Belluck ) reports a study published in Nature “found that people who received the shingles vaccine were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia in the seven years afterward than those who were not vaccinated.” Compared to prior studies suggesting that shingles vaccinations might reduce dementia risk, this study was able to rule out “other dementia-protective characteristics, like healthier lifestyles, better diets or more years of education.” Overall, the results “provide some of the strongest evidence yet that some viral infections can have effects on brain function years later and that preventing them can help stave off cognitive decline.”

The AP (4/2, Neergaard ) reports the study “tracked people in Wales who were around 80 when receiving the world’s first-generation shingles vaccine over a decade ago.”

NBC News (4/2, Carroll ) reports that the “most important take-home message” from the study “is that getting vaccinated might lower the risk for dementia.” It is also possible “that the Food and Drug Administration could review research linking shingles vaccines to a lower risk of dementia and allow the drug company to add that indication to the label,” experts said.

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (4/1, Gotkine ) reports a study suggests that “a higher percentage of individuals who have psychostimulant involvement in synthetic opioid overdose deaths tend to work in physically demanding occupations and industries.” Researchers found that the “highest percentages of synthetic opioid overdose deaths co-involving psychostimulants with abuse potential (psychostimulants) occurred in occupation and industry groups that were typically physically demanding (e.g., construction and extraction occupations), while the highest percentages of cocaine co-involvement were seen in industries that were generally less physically strenuous (e.g., business and financial occupations).” They concluded, “These hypothesis-generating findings warrant confirmation but point to a potential role for work-related substance use and overdose prevention interventions.” The study was published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “Stimulant Involvement in Opioid OD Death Higher for Those in Physically Demanding Jobs,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, April 1, 2025