The Hill (5/16) reports, “Deaths related to alcohol use disorder surged during the pandemic, with young adults seeing an especially sharp increase, according to a recent study.” Researchers “used predictive modeling, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…to project alcohol use disorder deaths before comparing them to actual numbers,” and “found that the mortality rates increased among all ages and sexes studied.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Alcohol use disorder deaths soared during pandemic, The Hill, May 16, 2022

Healio (5/16, Downey) reports, “Patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection and those who survived other severe acute respiratory infections were at similarly higher risk for subsequent neuropsychiatric diagnoses and treatment, researchers reported.” For the study published in JAMA Psychiatry, “researchers assessed new-onset diagnoses of neuropsychiatric conditions – anxiety, dementia, psychosis, depression and bipolar disorder – or first prescription for relevant medications, including antidepressants and antipsychotics, during 12 months of follow-up after hospital discharge.”

Related Links:

— “Neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19 similar to other respiratory infections “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, May 16, 2022

The New York Times (5/14, Rojas) reported that on Friday, U.S. District Judge Liles Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama “blocked portions of an Alabama law that prevent medical professionals from providing care that helps transgender children and teenagers transition, making it a felony offense that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.” Burke “temporarily halted the state from enforcing parts of the law that make it a felony to prescribe hormones or puberty-blocking medication while the court challenge continued.” The Times added, “The American Medical Association has criticized legislative efforts like the Alabama law as ‘government intrusion into the practice of medicine that is detrimental to the health of transgender and gender-diverse children and adults.’”

Related Links:

— “Alabama’s Transgender Youth Can Use Medicine to Transition, Judge Rules “Rick Rojas, The New York Times, May 14, 2022

The New York Times (5/13, Blum) reported the “telehealth start-up” Cerebral Inc., offers “services…entirely online” and “claimed to be able to provide prescriptions and counseling for conditions including depression, insomnia and” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Recently, however, “after reports that the company pressured its clinicians to prescribe medications for” AD/HD, the company “received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, which is investigating possible violations of the Controlled Substances Act, according to a representative for the company.” This investigation “comes on the heels of accusations from former employees who said the company prescribed Adderall” (dextroamphetamine-amphetamine) and “Ritalin [methylphenidate hydrochloride] to treat” AD/HD “without properly screening patients.”

Related Links:

— “The Hazards of Prescribing A.D.H.D. Drugs Online “Dani Blum, The New York Times, May 13, 2022

Psychiatric News (5/13) reported, “Nearly half of adults who have used methamphetamine during the last year have driven while under the influence,” investigators concluded after examining “data from 170,944 adults aged 18 years and older who participated in the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2016 and 2019.” What’s more, the study “revealed that more than one-fifth of adults who have used cocaine in the last year have driven under the influence.” The findings were published online May 11 in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

Related Links:

— “Driving Under the Influence Common Among People Who Use Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Psychiatric News, May 15, 2022

Psychiatric News (5/12) reports, “Youth who socially transition to a gender other than the sex they were assigned at birth are likely to continue identifying as that gender five years later,” investigators concluded in a study that “used data from the Trans Youth Project, a longitudinal study involving 317 youth aged 3 to 12 years old.” The study revealed that “an average of 5.37 years after their initial transitions, 94% of participants were living as binary transgender, 2.5% identified as cisgender, and 3.5% identified as nonbinary.” The findings were published online May 4 in the journal Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Youth Who Transition to Another Gender Not Likely to Transition Back, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, May 12, 2022

Healio (5/12, Herpen) reports, “Individuals with opioid use disorder [OUD] and polysubstance use were less likely to initiate treatment with buprenorphine and naltrexone than those without polysubstance use,” researchers concluded in a study that “sought to examine buprenorphine and naltrexone initiation among those diagnosed with” OUD, “with and without concurrent substance use disorder.” For the study, investigators “utilized insurance claims between 2011 and 2016 from United States IBM databases to find instances of medication initiation for OUD in 179,280 treatment-seeking individuals (50.5% male), aged 12 to 64 years, with a primary diagnosis of OUD.” The findings were published online May 10 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Those with opioid use disorder, polysubstance use less likely to initiate MOUD treatment “Robert Herpen, Healio, May 12, 2022

HealthDay (5/12, Preidt) reports, “Americans’ rates of depression and anxiety spiked during the first year of the pandemic, but the increases were much more pronounced among Black, Hispanic and Asian people than among white people,” investigators concluded. The study revealed that when “comparing 2019 to April-May 2020, probabilities of depression and anxiety were 218% larger for white people, 280% larger for Black people, 344% larger for Hispanic people and 560% larger for Asian American people.” The findingswere published online March 22 in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Related Links:

— “Depression, Anxiety Hit Minorities Hardest During Pandemic ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, May 12, 2022

CNN (5/11, Christensen) reports, “Even two years after their initial infection, the majority of people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 early in the pandemic had lingering symptoms, according to a new study.” Investigators “found that 55% of patients still had at least one Covid-19 symptom two years later,” which “was actually an improvement from six months after infection, when 68% had symptoms.”

US News & World Report (5/11, Smith-Schoenwalder) reports, “Fatigue and muscle weakness were the most commonly reported symptoms.” Meanwhile, “fewer people reported symptoms of anxiety or depression after two years than after six months, decreasing from 23% at six months to 12% at two years.” The findingswere published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

MedPage Today (5/11, Walker) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “More than half of early Covid-19 patients at one hospital had symptoms two years later, study finds “Jen Christensen, CNN, May 11, 2022

MedPage Today (5/11, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) during the first trimester of pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk for neonatal seizures and epilepsy in childhood,” researchers concluded after conducting an “analysis of a Swedish registry.” The findings were published online May 11 in the journal Neurology

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)