Los Angeles Times (2/8, Cahan) reports, “As the pandemic sends thousands of recovering alcoholics into relapse, hospitals across the country have reported dramatic increases in alcohol-related admissions for critical diseases such as alcoholic hepatitis and liver failure.” The Times adds, “Specialists at hospitals affiliated with the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Harvard University and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City said rates of admissions for alcoholic liver disease have leapt by up to 50% since March.”

Related Links:

— “As alcohol abuse rises amid pandemic, hospitals see a wave of deadly liver disease “Eli Cahan, Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2021

The Wall Street Journal (2/6, Drexler, Subscription Publication) reported that while some people have consumed more alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic, others have decided to give it up entirely in order to avoid the risk of becoming a problem drinker.

Related Links:

— “Giving Up Alcohol in the Era of Covid-19 “Peggy Drexle, The Wall Street Journal, February 6, 2021

The New York Times (2/6, Harel) reported, “Lots of people seem to be smoking again or more during the pandemic, if anecdotal evidence and preliminary sales figures for tobacco products are any measure.” The New York Times quoted several people describing how being stuck inside, isolated, and stressed has led them to start smoking again or smoke more than they were before the pandemic.

Related Links:

— “Smokers Might Be Lighting Up More “Monica Corcoran Harel, The New York Times, February 6, 2021

Healio (2/5, Gramigna) reported,Over 20% of teens and young adults in the United States prescribed a psychoactive medication “reported misusing that drug,” researchers concluded in a study that “sought to evaluate prevalence and correlates of medical use and misuse of psychoactive prescription medications among 110,556 youth and young adults aged 12 to 25 years in the U.S.” The findings were published in the January issue of Family Medicine and Community Health.

Related Links:

— “Many teens and young adults misuse prescribed psychoactive drugs “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 5, 2021

Healio (2/4, Michael) reports, “Transgender adults have a higher prevalence of substance use disorder diagnoses compared with cisgender adults,” researchers concluded after conducting “a cross-sectional analysis of data from the OptumLabs Data Warehouse, which include claims from individuals insured commercially or through Medicare Advantage in 2017 who had at least five medical claims reported that year.” Included in the study were data on “a total of 15,637 transgender adults” who were “matched 3:1 with 46,911 cisgender adults based on age and geographic information.” The findings were published online Feb. 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Transgender adults more likely to be diagnosed with substance use disorders “Erin Michael, Healio, February 4, 2021

US News & World Report (2/4, Cirruzzo) reports, “More than a quarter of U.S. adults who participated in an online survey given in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic were experiencing symptoms of current depression, a new report (2/4) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, with the prevalence of mental distress highest among Hispanics.” Estimates “based on an opt-in online survey of adults 18 and over last year show that 28.6% of respondents were suffering from current depression, 18.2% had initiated or increased substance use, and 8.4% were having suicidal thoughts.” The survey “was conducted in April and May of 2020, with results based on 1,004 respondents.”

Related Links:

— “Hispanics See High Prevalence of Depression, Food Worries During COVID-19 “Chelsea Cirruzzo, US News & World Report, February 4, 2021

Healio (2/4, Gramigna) reports, “The COVID-19 pandemic appeared to shift ED use and priorities for care, particularly related to mental health, substance use and violence risk screening and prevention,” researchers concluded after capturing data on “187,508,065 ED visits, of which 6,018,318 included at least one study outcome, between December 30, 2018, and October 10, 2020.” After comparing “the median ED visit counts between March 15, 2020, and October 10, 2020, with the same period in 2019,” the study team “found that the 2020 counts were significantly higher for suicide attempts, all overdoses and opioid overdoses.” The findings were published online Feb. 3 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 pandemic has shifted ED use related to mental health, substance use, violence “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 4, 2021

The New York Times (2/3, A1, Forsythe, Bogdanich) reports, “McKinsey & Company, the consultant to blue-chip corporations and governments around the world, has agreed to pay $573 million to settle investigations into its role in helping ‘turbocharge’ opioid sales, a rare instance of it being held publicly accountable for its work with clients.” The firm “has reached the agreement with attorneys general in 47 states, the District of Columbia and five territories, according to five people familiar with the negotiations.” The settlement “comes after lawsuits unearthed a trove of documents showing how McKinsey worked to drive sales of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin” pain medication “amid an opioid epidemic in the United States that has contributed to the deaths of more than 450,000 people over the past two decades.”

Related Links:

— “McKinsey Settles for Nearly $600 Million Over Role in Opioid Crisis ” Michael Forsythe and Walt Bogdanich, The New York Times, February 3, 2021

Healio (2/3, Miller) reports, “The percentage of fatal overdose cases in Philadelphia with detectable levels of xylazine rose from 2% to 31% during a 10-year period, suggesting that the United States’ opioid epidemic ‘continues to evolve,’” investigators concluded after analyzing “data on overdose deaths from heroin, fentanyl or both from the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office.” The findings were published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

Related Links:

— “Xylazine found in one-third of fatal opioid overdoses in Philadelphia “Janel Miller, Healio, February 3, 2021

Reuters (2/3, Terhune, Levine) reports, “Newly unsealed court documents and other records show that Merck & Co and U.S. regulators knew about reports of suicidal behavior in men taking the company’s anti-baldness treatment Propecia [finasteride] when they decided not to warn consumers of those potential risks in a 2011” label update of the medication. In late January, “internal records from Merck were made public…when a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, New York, granted a 2019 Reuters motion to unseal 11 documents filed in years of litigation alleging Propecia caused persistent sexual dysfunction and other harmful side effects.” Following “the 2011 decision on the warning, the FDA has received more than 700 reports of suicide and suicidal thoughts among people taking Propecia or generic versions of the drug.”

Related Links:

— “Exclusive: Merck anti-baldness drug Propecia has long trail of suicide reports, records show ” Dan Levine, Chad Terhune, Reuters, February 3, 2021