According to MedPage Today (9/23, George), on Sept. 23, the FDA announced that “benzodiazepines will be required to have class-wide labeling changes to include warnings about risks of abuse, misuse, addiction, physical dependence, and withdrawal reactions.” These “updates will be made to the boxed warning benzodiazepines already carry that cautions about risks associated with using the” medications “concurrently with certain opioids.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

CNN (9/23, LaMotte) reports maternal use of cannabis during pregnancy “may increase psychotic-like behaviors in children.” Investigators arrived at this conclusion after analyzing “data on 11,489 children who were followed as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development” study, then evaluating “the children’s cognitive and behavior patterns…in middle childhood, around age nine.”

MedPage Today (9/23, D’Ambrosio) reports, “Compared to unexposed children, kids who had an in utero exposure to marijuana were more likely to develop a range of adverse outcomes in childhood, including psychopathology, reduced cognition, and lower brain volume,” the study revealed. What’s more, offspring “exposed after their mothers learned they were pregnant were at a significant risk of psychotic-like experiences, impulsivity and attention issues, and social challenges, the” researchers concluded. The findings were published online Sept. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry.

HealthDay (9/23, Thompson) also covers the study.

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— “Using weed during pregnancy linked to psychotic-like behaviors in children, study finds “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, September 23, 2020

MedPage Today (9/23, Walsh) reports, “Veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had concurrent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression or anxiety were at increased risk for early discontinuation of treatment,” investigators concluded in an analysis that “included 15,081 prescriptions for methotrexate given to 15,081 individuals and 8,412 prescriptions for a TNF inhibitor given to 7,092 patients.” After adjusting for confounding factors, researchers found that “the likelihood for stopping treatment with methotrexate was found to be higher for RA patients with PTSD,” and that “RA patients with PTSD were more likely to discontinue treatment with” a TNF inhibitor. The findings were published online Sept. 13 in ACR Open Rheumatology.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (9/23) reports, “College students whose academic performance has been negatively impacted by internet use or computer gaming are at higher risk of mental health problems than students without problematic internet use/computer gaming behaviors,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from 43,003 undergraduates aged 18 and older who participated in the 2017 American College Health Association‐National College Health Assessment.” The findings were published online Sept. 16 in the journal Depression & Anxiety.

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— “Problematic Internet Use, Gaming May Point to Students Experiencing Mental Health Symptoms Psychiatric News, September 23, 2020

HealthDay (9/23, Preidt) reports, “Severe mental illness diagnoses often get missed in patients hospitalized for physical health problems,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from nearly 13,800 U.K. adults who were diagnosed with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, between 2006 and 2017 and who had more than 45,700 emergency hospital admissions over the period.” The study also revealed that “ethnic minority patients were more likely to have unrecorded mental health diagnoses.” The findings were published online in PLoS Medicine.

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— “Severe Mental Illnesses Often Overlooked at Hospital Admission: Study “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 23, 2020

The AP (9/22, Johnson) reports the US death toll from coronavirus has passed 200,000, “by far the highest in the world.” The US is seeing close to 770 deaths daily on average, and a model from the University of Washington predicts the US death toll “will double to 400,000 by the end of the year as schools and colleges reopen and cold weather sets in.”

Reuters (9/22, S) reports the most deaths from coronavirus recorded in a single day in the US was 2,806 on April 15. According to CDC data, over 70% of people in the US who have died from the virus were older than 65.

Politico (9/22, Wanneh) reports that since January, there have been around 6.9 million cases of coronavirus in the US, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. The US accounts for 4% of the world’s population, but has recorded around 20% of the world’s deaths from the virus.

CNN (9/22, Yan) reports that back in March, NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that COVID-19 could kill 200,000 Americans and “skeptics lambasted him and accused him of fearmongering.” CNN compares the loss of life from COVID-19 to “109 Hurricane Katrinas” or a 9/11 “every day for 66 days.”

The Wall Street Journal (9/22, Calfas, Subscription Publication) and Newsweek (9/22, Kim) also cover the story.

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— ““Unfathomable”: US death toll from coronavirus hits 200,000 “Carla K. Johnson, AP, September 22, 2020

Psychiatric News (9/22) reports “data from an emergency department in Richmond,” VA, indicate that “the number of nonfatal opioid-related overdoses may have risen during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among people who are Black,” researchers concluded after examining “the number of nonfatal opioid overdoses recorded in electronic medical records from VCU’s Emergency Department from March to June 2019 with those that occurred from March to June 2020 – the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The study revealed that “nonfatal opioid overdoses increased from 102 between March and June 2019 to 227 between March and June 2020.” The findings were published in JAMA.

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— “Nonfatal Opioid Overdoses Rose During COVID-19 Pandemic, Report Suggests, Psychiatric News, September 22, 2020

Healio (9/22, Gramigna) reports, “Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids appeared to have a small but significant beneficial effect on perinatal depression,” investigators concluded in a meta-analysis that “included data from 18 randomized controlled trials with 4,052 participants published up to Feb. 18, 2019.” The findingswere published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

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— “Omega-3 supplementation offers small but significant effect on perinatal depression “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 22, 2020

STAT (9/22, Gopalakrishna) reports, “A large new study finds that mental health care for many children in the U.S. falls far short, particularly when it comes to the follow-up treatment they receive.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after examining “insurance claims from children between the ages of 10 and 17 covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield.” Out “of the more than 2 million children included in the study, nearly one in 10 had a claim related to mental illness between 2012 and 2018,” but “only 71% of the children received treatment in the three months that followed an initial insurance claim.” The findings were published online Sept. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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— “New research shows many children with mental health conditions don’t get follow-up care “Pratibha Gopalakrishna, STAT, September 22, 2020

CNN (9/21, Prior) reports a smartphone app based on the idea that people trying to quit smoking can benefit from acknowledging and accepting their cravings may help stop smoking, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Jonathan Bricker of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the study’s lead author, said, “The problem is that when you try to avoid what you’re feeling and what you’re thinking, you paradoxically create more of what you’re trying to avoid.”

Healio (9/21, Miller) reports that in the study, the iCanQuit smartphone app, which is based on acceptance and commitment therapy, was more effective at helping people quit smoking than NCI’s QuitGuide, a “clinical practice guidelines app based on avoidance of smoking triggers.”

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— “Quitting smoking apps that help you acknowledge your triggers work better, study shows “Ryan Prior, CNN, September 21, 2020