The Wall Street Journal (9/9, Armour, Subscription Publication) reports the Biden Administration on Thursday unveiled a plan aimed at cutting prescription drug prices by empowering the federal government to negotiate costs paid by Medicare and pass those potentially reduced costs to the private sector, among other proposals.

CNN (9/9, Luhby) reports HHS’ “29-page plan also backs Congress establishing a cap on what Medicare beneficiaries have to pay out-of-pocket for medication each year and devising efforts to slow price increases over time. And it calls for accelerating the development and use of generic and biosimilar drugs, including shortening manufacturers’ exclusivity period and increasing the prescribing of biosimilar medications by doctors.”

Related Links:

— “Biden Administration Unveils Plan to Cut Prescription-Drug Prices ” Stephanie Armour, The Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2021

Healio (9/9, Keenan) reports, “Adverse mental health symptoms and substance use were more prevalent among U.S. adults with disability than those without before and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded. Utilizing “nonprobability-based internet surveys, the COVID-19 Outbreak Public Evaluation (COPE) Initiative determined factors associated with adverse mental health symptoms and substance use among 5,119 adults with disabilities…between February and March.” The findings were published Aug. 27 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “Substance use, adverse mental health symptoms high among adults with disabilities “Julie S Keenan, Healio, September 9, 2021

Healio (9/8, Gramigna) reports research suggests that “sleep durations outside of a normal range worsened amyloid beta burden and cognition, underlining the importance of sleep in older adults,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 4,417 participants (59% women; mean age, 71.3 years) of the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease study, which is ongoing in 67 sites across the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan.” The study revealed “a linear association between self-reported shorter sleep duration and higher amyloid beta burden, as well as an association between short sleep duration and reduced cognition, largely in memory domains.” The findings were published online in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Short, long sleep duration worsen older adults’ amyloid beta burden, cognition “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 8, 2021

HealthDay (9/8, Mozes) reports, “A study of more than 11,000 British children and teens found that those with severe eczema were twice as likely to become clinically depressed as” children without eczema. What’s more, the “condition may also be tied to…anxiety and sleep difficulties.” The findings were published online in JAMA Dermatology.

Related Links:

— “Eczema Can Take Toll on Child’s Mental Health “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, September 8, 2021

USA Today (9/8, Cannon) reports, “Marijuana use among U.S. college students hit a historic high in 2020, while alcohol use might have taken a pandemic-induced dip,” investigators concluded in the “National Institute on Drug Abuse’s annual ‘Monitoring the Future’ [PDF] study.” In the meantime, “alcohol use was less common among college students than in previous years,” showing “decreases from 2019 in terms of binge drinking, getting drunk and overall alcohol use.” These “changes in substance use came as COVID-19 forced college students to navigate social distancing measures, online classes and an overall muted version of normal campus life,” which, “for some students…was fully remote” last year.

Related Links:

— “Marijuana use among US college students hits record high during pandemic, study shows “Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, September 8, 2021

HealthDay (9/7, Norton) reports research indicates that postponing retirement “a few years might help older adults retain more of their mental sharpness.” After examining “data on more than 20,000 older Americans, researchers estimated that if all of those people waited until age 67 to retire, their collective cognitive health would benefit.” The findings were published in the journal SSM – Population Health.

Related Links:

— “Postponing Retirement Might Help Keep Dementia at Bay ” Amy Norton, HealthDay, September 7, 2021

The New York Times (9/8, F-15, Steinhauer) reports that “thousands of veterans who served in the wars that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks” still struggle “with health problems, trauma and feelings of displacement and alienation.” For many, these feelings “grew more intense as the United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan last month and the Taliban regained control of the country.”

Related Links:

— “Veterans Struggle With Issues That Are Often Invisible to Others ” Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times, September 8, 2021

Healio (9/3, Burba) reported, “Ending physician suicide from burnout relies on early identification of and intervention for unwellness before it leads to impairment, according to a speaker at the Ending Physician Burnout Global Summit.” Owen Muir, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine, said, “When we’re addressing physician burnout, we have to address the fact that it’s not always just burnout. … Burnout is a pervasive problem, but mental illness also exists, and we are particularly vulnerable.”

Related Links:

— “Early intervention key to combatting physician burnout, suicide “Kate Burba, Healio, September 3, 2021

HealthDay (9/3, Preidt) reported, “Transgender people have double the odds of dying early compared to folks whose identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth (cisgender), a long-term study finds.” This “added risk did not decrease over time, according to an analysis of data collected from more than 4,500 transgender people in the Netherlands between 1972 and 2018.” The findings were published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

HCPlive (9/3, Walter) also covered the study.

Related Links:

— “Transgender People Face Twice the Odds for Early Death: Study ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 3, 2021

Reuters (9/5, Baertlein) reported healthcare workers are struggling with trauma and cases of PTSD as COVID-19 surges again. HHS warned in March healthcare workers are exhausted and traumatized, and staffing shortages are affecting patient care. As the Delta variant spreads, healthcare workers face further burnout and challenges. The American Medical Association “has tapped a military psychologist and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) National Center for PTSD to help it measure the pandemic’s impact,” with the results, presented in May at an American Psychiatric Association conference, showing “a PTSD rate of 49.5% among nonphysicians and 36% for doctors. Rates of suicidal thoughts increased as workers spent more time on COVID-19 units.”

Related Links:

— “Each COVID-19 surge poses a risk for healthcare workers: PTSD “Lisa Baertlein, Reuters, September 5, 2021